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PERSONAL HISTORY 



OF 



KING CHAKLES THE SECOND. 



Completion of the " Spottiswoode Society" Edition of 
KEITH'S CHURCH HISTORY. 

VOLUME THIRD. 

In Deviy 8ro, Cloth Boards, Neu\ \2s,for 5s. 

HISTORY OF THE AFFAIRS OF CHURCH AND STATE 
IN SCOTLAND, 

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION TO 
THE YEAR 1568. 

By the Right Rev. ROBERT KEITH, 

Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. 

Edited, with Illustrative Notes. 

y.*,, Members of the late " Spottiswoode Society," who have not completed 
their set of this very valuable Work, have now an opportunity of doing so at the 
Reduced Price of FIVftSHILLINGS, 

Only a Few Copies Remain for Sale. 



Preparing for Publication, 

CLAYERHOUSE. 

In Demy Hvo, with Fine Portraits and Plates, 

MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN GRAHAM, 

Of Clayeriiouse, Viscount of Dundee. 

Compiled from Original Unpublished Papers, with Illustrative Notes, &c. 

By mark NAPIER, Esq., Advocate, 
Author of the " Life and Times of Montrose,'''' <i'c. d-c. 



SCOTTISH CATHEDRAL CHURCHES. 

In Demy Svo, Price 12s., ivith a few Copies on Large Paper, 
Price 21s., 

HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH CATHEDRAL CHURCHES. 

Viz.— St Andrews, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Brechin, Ross, Caithness, Kirk- 
wall, DuNKELD, Dunblane, Elgin or Moray, Glasgow, Galloway, 
Argyle, and the Isles. 

By JOHN PARKER LAWSON, M.A. 

^*^ The Narrative is one of pecuUar interest, and embraces a vast mass of cu- 
rious and important Ecclesiastical, Antiquarian, Biographical, and Historical 
details. No work, moreover, exists on the subject, and very little is known even 
in Scotland respecting these edifices, some of which are partly, and others entirely, 
in ruins. 
ipr SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES received for the above intended Publications. 



PERSONAL IIISTOEY 



OF 



KING CHARLES THE SECOND, 



HIS LANDING IN SCOTLAND, ON JUNE 23. 1650, TILL 
TITS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND, OCTOBER 15. U;51. 



AN OUTLINE OF HIS LIFE, 

niMEDIATELY BEFORE k^J) AFTER THESE DATES, 



y"" .-.^cY 



THE 



Ret. C^^J.'^LYON, M.A., Cantab. 

INCUMBENT OF ST ANDREWS EPISCOPAL CHAPEL, ST ANDREWS, 

" AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF ST ANDREWS," 

&C. &C. &C. 




EDINBURGH: 
THOMAS GEORGE STEVENSON, 87 PRINCE'S STREET. 

M.UCCC.LI. 



JDA 



• L^ 



• ' The period to which our attention is now directed is one which excites a painful interest. 
It is pregnant with lessons of infinite value. It presents the most humiliating views of human 
nature. And while the hallowed name, and rites, and spirit of religion, were desecrated by its 
pretended votaries — by the clergy of tlie age in particular, without distinction of parties— these 
memorials present to view an incarnation of all the worst passions by which human beings are 
agitated." Pkterkin's Records of the Kirk of Scotland. 



EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY MACPHERSON & SYME, 
12 S. ST DAVID STREET. 



TO 

MARK NAPIER, ESQ. 

ADVOCATE, 
SHERIFr OF THE COUNTY OF DUMFIllES, 

THE BIOGRAPHER OF THE GREAT MONTROSE, 
THIS 

PERSONAL HISTORY OF KING CHARLES IL 

WHILE IN SCOTLAND, 



BY 



THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 

My reasons for obtruding this History on public atten- 
tion, are, first — the instructive nature of the subject itself, 
as hinted in the annexed motto ; and, secondly — this por- 
tion of history comprehends, within the space of sixteen 
months, a series of very interesting events, which are not 
generally known or understood, because they have before 
been, as far as I know, separately investigated. 

The Outhne of Charles's Life, both before and after his 
visit to Scotland, will be found to contain some curious ex- 
tracts from the Memoirs of that lively, though volatile, 
writer, his own fair cousin Mademoiselle de Montpensier. 

I have not scrupled to quote copiously from the docu- 
ments of the period, as not only affording the best authority 
for the facts belonging to it, but as bringing those facts, 
together with the opinions of the age, more vi\Sdly before 
the reader. The only liberty I have taken with those docu- 
ments is, that I have sometimes modernized the spelling — 
amended the punctuation, when the sense manifestly re- 
quired it— or introduced a parenthesis, in order to render 
the writer''s meaning more obvious. 

The Impression of this Work has been limited to Two 
Hundred and Fifty Copies, 

C. 3>. il. 

St Andrews, January JOal. 



CONTENTS. 



Dedication, ... .... 

Preface, . ...... 

Outline of Kixg Charles II.'s Life before going to Scotland, 
Introduction, . . 

March, April, May, and beginning of June 1650, 
Scots Commissioners sent to Treat with Charles at Breda, 
Terras which they offered to him — Remarks, 
A Public Fast in Scotland, and why ? 
Prevalence of Witchcraft, Fanaticism, and Immorality, 
Rigid Observance of Sunday, .... 

Topics introduced into the Pulpits, .... 

Severity of the Kirk Courts, ..... 

Punishments inflicted on offenders, .... 

True motives of the Covenanters in bringing Charles to Scotland, 

Duplicity deemed lawful to attain certain ends. 

The Commissioners are introduced to the King at Breda, 

Rev. J. Livingstone's Speech to him, 

Charles's Courtesy to the Presbyterian Ministers, 

Intrigues and parties at Breda, .... 

Livingstone's complaints and perplexities, 

The King no less perplexed, ..... 

He at last agrees to go to Scotland, .... 

The Ministers object to his Communicating in a Kneeling Posture, 

Names and Character of the Cavaliers who were with the King, 

They and some of the Commissioners embark. 

Fresh Instructions come from Scotland, 

The King embarks, ...... 

Ludicrous dilemma of some of the Commissioners, 

Livingstone determines not to go with the rest, but is entrapped on 

Charles, when at Sea, refuses to Sign the Covenant, 

At last he yields — Reflections, .... 

He escapes the English Fleet, and arrives in Scotland, 
Livingstone's Letter to the Rev. Robert Douglas, 
Charles lands at Speymouth — is taken to the Bog of Gicht, 

Personal History of King Charles the Second, 

End of June 1650. 
The Commissioners' Letter to the Magistrates of Aberdeen, . 
Cliarles's Route to Aberdeen, ..... 
Pitcaple — Reception at Aberdeen — the " Maiden," 
Mangled Leg of the Marquis of Montrose, 
The Commission of Assembly's Act against Malignants, 
Loyalty of the bulk of the Scots people. 
The Parliament's Deputation to the King, 
They order his Suite to be dismissed, 

a * 



PAGE 

iii 

V 

xiii 
1 



1 

2 

4 

4 

8 

9 

10 

U 

12 

14 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

20 

21 

22 

23 

25 

25 

26 

26 

board, 27 
28 
28 
31 
32 
32 

33 

33 
34 
34 
35 
36 
36 
37 
37 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Some of them nevertheless remam, 

" Committee of Estates '' and " Commission of Assembly," 
Behaviour to the King — his Body-guard, and Revenue, 
His Route from Aberdeen to Dunottar and Kinnaird House, 
His arrival at Dudhope Castle, 



PAGE 3iJ 

38 
39 
40 
41 



July 1G50. 
He meets Livingstone at Dundee, 
Goes to St Andrews — S. Rutherford and R. Blair, 
His entertainment at Cupar-Fife — Falkland, 
A General Assembly at Edinburgh — its Acts, 
Letters from the poet Cowley at Paris concerning the King, 
Treatment of the King at Falkland — Sunday rigours. 
Long Sermons — Anecdote — Earl of Carnwath, 
King's Private Letter to the Duke of Hamilton, 
His moral character at this time, 
Cromwell prepares to invade Scotland, 
His March, and Proclamation " to the Saints in Scotland," 
Defensive Preparations by the Scots — General Lesley, 
Position of the two Armies near Edinburgh, 
Cromwell's Character, ..... 
The King at Perth, Dunfermline, and Stirling, 
He goes to the army at Edinburgh — reception there. 
His Proclamation to the English Army, 
Two encounters between the hostile Armies — a Fast, and why ? 
Result of these encounters, ..... 



41 
42 
42 
43 
44 
47 
47 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
55 
57 
58 
58 
59 
60 



August 1650. 
The King reviews the Scots army on the Links at Leith, 
He is feasted in Edinburgh, . . . . 

Obliged to leave the army, and goes to Dunfermline, 
His Private Letter to the Duke of Hamilton, 
" Purgation " of the Scottish army, .... 
Cromwell retires to Dunbar, but returns. 

Distress of the country, ..... 

Letter from S. Rutherford to Colonel Ker, 
The King refuses to sign the " Dunfermline Declaration," 
" West Kirk Act " — its chief promoters, 
Another Private Letter to the Duke of Hamilton, 
King signs the " Dunfermline Declaration," and goes to Perth, 
Its contents — remarks upon it by the English, 
By Sir Edward Nicholas — and by modern writers. 
The King destined to undergo a public penance, and why ? — Remarks, 
Another Letter to the Duke of Hamilton, 
Cromwell withdraws to Dunbar — followed by Lesley, 



61 
61 
62 
62 
63 
64 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
70 
71 
72 
74 
75 
76 



September 1650. 
Position of the two armies — instances of fanaticism, 
Charles's Letter to Sir E. Nicholas, 
Battle of Dunbar — Cromwell's Letters — his inhumanity, 



76 

7.9 
80 



CONTENTS. IX 

Commissioner Jaflfray — Dr John Owen, . . . page 82 

Cromwell's disposal of his wounded prisoners, . . .83 

Miss Murray's kindness to them, . . . , .84 

Behaviour and treatment of the prisoners on their march through England, 85 
Subscription in Scotland for their relief, .... 85 

Another Letter from S. Rutherford to Colonel Ker, . . 86 

The King receives the news of the Defeat at Dunbar, . . 87 

His pretended grief, yet benefited by it, . . . , 88 

Cromwell takes possession of Edinburgh — Correspondence with the 

Scots Ministers, . . 

Language used by the Assembly's Commission, 
" Thirteen Reasons " alleged for the Divine displeasure. 
An English Independent's view of this subject, 
The " Thirteen Reasons '' give offence to many Presbyterians, 
The Rev. James Wood — an English preacher — groaning in church 
The Marquis of Argyll wants the ICing to marry his daughter. 
The King's promise to him, .... 

More of the King's suite removed, .... 
Sir Edward Walker — treatment of the King at Has time, 
His Private Letter to the Duke of Hamilton, 



91 
92 
93 
95 
96 
97 
98 
99 
100 
101 



October 1650. 



Charles afraid for his life — His Letters to some of his friends, . 101 

His" Start" from Perth to Dudhope and Cortachy, . .103 

His plan defeated — Reaches Clova, but returns, . . .105 

Confesses his sin and is absolved, but not so his coadjutors, . . 107 

Letter from Dan. O'Neil in reference to this, . • .109 

Letter from the poet Cowley on the same subject, . . . 110 

Cromwell's Letter to the Committee of Estates, . . . Ill 

Four Independent Armies now in Scotland, . . . .112 

The English, Presbyterian, Highland, and Westland, . , 113 
Highland Army defeats the Presbyterian General Brown — Treaty with it, 114 

Greneral Middleton excommvmicated by Mr J. Guthrie, . . 116 

The Rev. Messrs Cant's advice to General Lesley, . . . 117 

The Westland Army — its leaders, and their opinions, . . 117 

Its " Remonstrance " to the Committee of Estates, . . . 119 

Its disregard of the King, . . . . . .122 

November 1650. 

Judgment on the " Remonstrance " by the Estates, and by the Kirk, 1 23 

King's Letter to the Marquis of Ormond, . . . .124 

New Session of Parliament — King's hypocritical speech, , . 125 

Three Fasts appointed — Remarks — General Lesley's conduct at Dunbar, 126 
Commission of Assembly's Petition and Remonstrance, . . 127 

Resistance made by the Scots to the English, . , . 1 28 

Cromwell's Proclamation against the robbing and murdering of his Sol- 
diers, ........ 129 

Reply to the above Petition and Remonstrance, . . .129 

Ambiguous Character of this R«ply, . . . . .131 

Colonels Ker and Straehan, .... .132 

a 



CONTENTS. 



Defeat and Dispersion of the Westland Army at Hamilton, . page 132 

Cromwell in Glasgow — Anecdote, . . . . .133 

Zachary Boyd and Hugh Binning, . . . . .134 

December 1650. 

Proposal to admit *' Malignants" into the Army, 

Approved by the majority, but keenly opposed by the minority, 

Resolutioners and Protesters, 

Hypocritical compliances. 

Earls of Lauderdale and Crawford, 

Ineffectual remedies to check vice, 

Degraded condition of the country. 

Fasts, especially one " for the King's Family," 

" Twelve Causes" for this Fast — Christmas Day, 

Nicoil's melancholy reflections at the close of this year, 

January 1651. 
Abbey Church, and Palace of Scone, 
Details of the King's Coronation, 
Mr R. Douglas's Sermon — League and Covenant, 
Coronation Oath — Reflections, 
Farther details of the Coronation, 
Anecdote of the King and Argyll, 
Attempts to assassinate the King, 
A " Remonstrance" and a " Warning," 

Conference at St Andrews betwixt the Resolutioners and Protesters, 
General Middleton absolved — Colonel Strachan and others excommuni- 
cated, . . . . . . 

Letter to Sir E. Nicholas — State of the King's Army, 

February 1651. 

King's Army strengthened — Letter to Marquis of Ormond, . 164 

Feud betwixt Hamilton and Argyll — Sir R. Fanshawe, . . 165 

Messrs J. Guthrie and D. Bennet impeached, . . .167 

They are condemned by the Standards of their Kirk, yet leniently treated, 168 

Hume and Tantallon Castles fall — King's Excursion into Fife, . 170 

His interview with Mr R. Blair, . . . . .171 

Entertained at Pittenweem, . . . . . .171 

Review of Soldiers — Their refractory conduct, . . .173 

King at Aberdeen — Returns to Perth — Dutch Envoy, . . 174 



135 
137 
138 
139 
140 
141 
141 
142 
144 
146 



147 
148 
150 
152 
154 
159 
159 
160 
161 

162 
162 



March 1651. 

Letter from Sir E. Nicholas — Cromwell's Illness, 

Intolerance of the Assembly's Commission, . 

Cromwell's Progress — The Garrison of Stirling, 

Proposed Repeal of " The Act of Classes," 

Disgraceful nature of this Act, 

New Session of Pai-liament, 

Lords Burleigh, Loudon, and Lothian, 



175 
176 
177 
179 
179 
180 
181 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



April 1651. 

Dumbarton taken, with Lord Eglinton and his Sou, . . page 183 

Two Letters from the Rev. Mr Baillie to Lord Lauderdale, . . 183 

Affair at Linlithgow — Cromwell in Glasgow, . . .184 

Sermons Preached against him there — Anecdote, . . .184 

Reinforcement of royalist Officers from Holland, . . ,187 

May 1651. 

Scots Army constituted — Letters from Perth, . . ,187 

King's good sense and activity — Affair at Kirkaldy, . . 188 

« Act of Classes "repealed, . . . . . .190 

Increased animosity between the Resolutioners and Protesters, . 190 

Duke of Hamilton's penance, . . . . .191 

Celebration of King's Birth-day — Dundee, . . . .191 

June 1651. 

Cromwell's Recovery — Position of the two Armies, . . .192 

Marching and Countermarching, . . . . .193 

July 1651. 

Field of Bannockburn, . . . , . .194 

Part of the English Army crosses the Forth, . . .194 

Battle of Dunfermline — Its results, . . . . ,195 

Cromwell's Letters on the subject, . . . . .195 

General Assembly at St Andrews — Party wranglings, . . 196 

The Assembly, afraid of Cromwell's approach, adjourns to Dundee, 198 

Farther proceedings there, . , , . . ,199 

Subsequent conduct of the Resolutioners and Protesters, . . 200 

Irregular movements of the Scots army, .... 202 

A Letter from Cromwell, ...... 203 

Duke of Hamilton's Letter to his Niece, . . . , 205 

The King marches for England, . . . . , 205 

August 1651. 

Followed by Generals Lambert and Harrison, . . , 206 

And by CromweU himself — Line of March, .... 207 
Carlisle — Royal Proclamation — Discipline, .... 207 
Letters from Lords Lauderdale and Wentworth, and Duke of Hamilton, 

to their friends, . . . . . , ,208 

Black Dub — Letter from the regicide General Harrison — Remarks, 21 1 

The Covenant causes more divisions among the King's troops, . 213 

General Massey and Earl of Derby, . . . .213 

Affair at Warrington Bridge — Shrewsbury, and Chirk Castle, . 214 

Duke of Buckingham and Lesley, , , . . ,215 

Comparison between Charles II, and his grand-nephew Prince Charles, 215 
Earl of Derby's defeat and escape — Boscobel, . . . 216 

Parliamentary forces — Worcester — Pitchcroft, . . . 217 

Mr Crosby's Sermon in Worcester Cathedral, . . . 218 

Plans of attack and defence, . , . , ,215 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



September 1651. 
Night attack by General Middleton — Bridge of Powick, . page 220 

Fort Royal stormed — Battle of Worcester, . . . 220 

Duke of Hamilton mortally wounded — King's bravery, . . 221 

Sir A. Forbes — King and others compelled to fly, . . 222 

Cromwell's Letters — Loss on both sides, .... 223 

Treatment of Royalist prisoners — the King and his Suite, . 224 

White-Ladies House — Lesley and his followers, . . . 226 

Sir Robert and Lady Fanshawe in London, . . . 229 

The brothers Penderill — King disguised, .... 232 

Lord Wilmot — Boscobel wood — King goes to Madeley — Evelyn Mill, 233 

Mr Wolf — King returns to Boscobel, .... 234 

Priest Huddleston — Major Carlis — Royal Oak, . . . 236 

Humphrey Penderill — King rides to Mosely, . . . 238 

Mr Whitgrave — Narrow escapes — Romish books, . . 241 

Huddleston's pupils — King goes to Bentley — Colonel Lane, . 246 

Future history of the Penderills and of Huddleston, . . 247 

King, Miss Lane, and others, set out out for Abbotsleigb, . 250 

Adventures at Bromsgrove, Stratford, and Longmarston, . 250 

Occurrences at Abbotsleigh, ..... 252 

The Royal party go to Trent — Colonel Windham, . . 257 

Future history of the Lanes — Occurrences at Trent — King leaves it, 258 

The Skipper at Lyme Regis and his Wife — Adventures at Charmouth, 260 

Village Preacher and Landlady — Bridport, . . . 264 

Hostler — Broad Windsor — King returns to Trent, . . 266 

October 1651. 

More risks at Trent — New plans of escape — Colonel Philips, . 268 

King sets out for Heale House, ..... 270 

Innkeeper at Mere — the party at Heale — Stonehenge, . . 270 
Lord Wilmot applies to Royalists for aid, . . .271 

Mr Lawrence Hyde — Colonel and Captain Gunter, . . 272 

Scenes at Racton — Attempts to procure a vessel — Mr Mansell, . 274 
Colonel Gunter and Mr Mansell go to Brighton, where they engage a vessel, 277 

King and Colonel Philips leave Heale, .... 278 

Scene at Hambledon, ...... 279 

Adventures on the journey from Hambledon to Brighton, . . 280 

Occurrences and risks at Brighton, .... 282 

King and Wilmot embark at Shoreham, and quit England — Remarks, 284 

Outline of Charles II.'s Life after his Escape out of England, till 

HIS Restoration, ...... 286 

Index of Names, . . ..... 303 



MAP 

Of the Route of King Charles II. after the Battle of Worcester in 

September and October 1651, to face the Title-page. 



OUTLINE 



OF 



KING CHARLES THE SECOND'S LIFE, 



BEFORE GOING TO SCOTLAND. 



Charles was born on the 29th May 1630. When eight 
years of age, the Earl (afterwards Marquis) of Newcastle, 
was appointed his guardian, and was subsequently succeeded 
in the same capacity by the Marquis of Hertford. The 
celebrated Thomas Hobbes taught him mathematics, Dr 
Brian Duppa, Bishop of Salisbury, was appointed ordinary 
tutor, and Dr Earl sub-tutor, to him and his brother the 
Duke of York. 

From the time the civil broils began, Charles I. was de- 
sirous of having his son as much as possible n,ear his own 
person. In 1642, we find them both at Greenwich, where 
the Queen embarked for Holland. When the King chose 
a body-guard to attend him, he nominated the young prince 
to be its captain, in which capacity he was at the battle of 
Edgehill, along with the Duke of York, under the charge 
of Mr Hyde the future Chancellor ; and were very near all 
three being taken prisoners. 

In 1645, the Prince was made Generalissimo of all his 
father*'s forces ; and a council, consisting of the Duke of 
Richmond, the Earl of Southampton, the Lords Colepepper, 
Capel, and Hopton, with Mr Fanshawe for their secretary, . 
were appointed to advise him. He confined himself to the 
west of England, and made Bristol the head-quarters of his 
little army. Here, however, little good was done. Owing 
to the rapid progress of the Rebellion, and the increasing 



XIV OUTLINE OF CHARLES IL S LIFE, 

derangement of the King's affairs, the necessity for the 
Princess escape out of the country soon became apparent, 
and he accordingly retired to the Scilly Islands. While 
there, the Parliament sent him an invitation to go to Lon- 
don, ostensibly for the purpose of attempting a reconcilia- 
tion between his father and them ; but, as a proof of what 
was their real object in this proposal, they, the very next 
day, surrounded the island on which he was, with a fleet of 
twenty ships, which, however, were happily driven away and 
dispersed the same evening by a storm. It being evident 
from this, that the Prince was no longer safe in his own domi- 
nions, he and his suite left the island, as soon as the weather 
moderated, and in twenty-four hours reached Jersey, where 
he landed on the 1 7th April 1646. The majority of his 
council wished him to remain there, but he soon after join- 
ed his mother at Paris, at her urgent request, " by whom,"*' 
says Clarendon, " he was governed with such strictness, 
that, though he was above the age of seventeen, he never 
put on his hat before her, nor had above ten pistoles in his 
pocket." 

From the autobiography of Mademoiselle de Mont- 
pensier (eldest daughter of Gaston Duke of Orleans, com- 
monly called Monsieur), we learn the following particulars 
concerning Charles during his first visit to Paris. This 
lady was first cousin both to Charles and Louis XIV., but 
three years older than the former, and seven years older than 
the latter. — " As the troubles in England continued, the 
King sent his son the Prince of Wales into France, that he 
might be in a place of safety. He came to the Court, which 
was then at Fontainbleau. Their Majesties went to meet 
him in the forest. The Queen of England presented him 
to the King (Louis XIV., then nine years old), next to the 
Queen-mother, who kissed him, and then he saluted the 
Princess and myself. He was then sixteen or seventeen 
years old, and tall of his age ; he had a fine head, black 
hair, dark complexion, and a good figure ; but unfor- 
tunately he spoke and understood French very imper- 
fectly. The Queen, his mother, wished to persuade me 
that he was in love with me ; that he was always speak- 



BEFORE GOING TO SCOTLAND. XV 

ing of rae ; that, unless prevented by her, he would be con- 
stantly in my room ; that he thought me extremely agreeable; 
and that he was in despair when the news came of the 
Empress (of Germany's) death, because it was believed that 
I would be married to the Emperor. I listened to all this 
with composure, and did not believe so much of it as she per- 
haps mshed." Farther on, this flippant young lady says : — 
" We (the Prince and herself) saw each other often, because 
comedies were then frequently acted at the palace, and he 
never failed to attend them, and to place himself next to 
me. He accompanied me when I went to see the Queen 
his mother ; and whatever the weather might be, he never 
put on his hat in my presence. His politeness shewed it- 
self even in trifles. One day, when I was going to an as- 
sembly at Madame de Choisy's, the Queen of England, who 
wished to see me dressed, came expressly for this purpose 
to my house in the evening, and took extreme pains to 
adorn me. All the time I was being dressed, the Prince 
held the flambeau to give me more light." Here she gives 
a description of her dress. " The Prince arrived at Ma- 
dame de Choisy's before me, and presented himself to give 
me his hand in alighting from my carriage. Before entering 
the assembly, I went into a room to arrange my hair at a 
mirror. Again the Prince held the flambeau. He follow- 
ed close behind me, and what is scarcely credible (and yet 
I was told it by his cousin and mine. Prince Robert [Ru- 
pert?], who acted as his interpreter), though he understood 
very little French, he understood every word / said ! When 
the assembly was over, and I had gone home, I was amazed 
to find that he had followed me, and did not leave me till he 
had seen me safe into my house. His gallantry was carried 
on so openly, that every one spoke of it,'" &c. &c. And 
yet, there was so much more of vanity or ambition than of 
any better feeling in this young lady's heart, that though 
she evidently takes great delight in relating those marks of 
her royal cousin's attachment to her, she concludes this 
very paragraph of her Memoirs by saying, that the idea of 
becoming Empress of Germany so wholly engrossed her 
mind, that she could not regard the Prince of Wales in 



XVI OUTLINE OF CHARLES IL S LIFE, 

any other light than as an object of pity ! It is plain, that 
a lady of such a disposition was but ill calculated to make 
any husband happy. 

In 1648, a part of the English fleet off the coast of Hol- 
land, under the command of Sir William Watten, 'having 
thrown off the yoke of the rebel Parliament, put itself under 
the command of the Prince of Wales. Accordingly, he and 
the Duke of York set off from Paris for Holland, and as- 
sumed the command of twenty large ships of war, besides 
frigates and smaller vessels. With these they put to sea, 
and entering Yarmouth Roads, the Thames and the Downs, 
captured several prizes. But their efforts ended in nothing. 
They were compelled to return to Holland, and the ships 
soon after put themselves under the orders of the Parlia- 
mentary Admiral, Lord Warwick. 

The intelligence of Charles I.'s approaching mock trial, 
moved his son to use every endeavour to save him from the 
fate which, it was evident, awaited him. He not only got his 
brother-in-law the Prince of Orange and the States Gene- 
ral to send an extraordinary Ambassador to the English 
government, but he himself wrote a letter to General Fair- 
fax and the Council of War, offering to agree to any terms 
they would propose, if they would spare the King — but to 
no purpose.^ Not content with murdering him, they issued 
a proclamation that all who should recognise his son as his 
successor, should be adjudged traitors, and suffer accord- 
ingly. 

^ In the British Museum is a blank sheet of paper, with the signature 
*' Charles P. " at the end of the fourth page, which is said to be a carte hlanclie 
sent from the Prince of Wales to the then ruling authorities, with an intima- 
tion that it might be filled up with any conditions which would preserve the 
King's life. " So thoroughly determined," writes one of the sister-biographers 
of the Queens of England and Scotland, " was the Prince of Wales that his 
noble act of filial duty should be carried into effect, that I have traced three 
carte-blanches of his sending at this period (namely, between his father's con- 
demnation and execution), all dispatched by different messengers ; the first, 
to the Parliament of England, by Sir Henry Ellis ; the second, byyoimg 
Seymour, which Charles I. received while waiting to be executed, and which 
he carefully burnt, lest ill use should be made of it ; and the third, put into 
Cromwell's own hands, in his house at Westminster, by the head of his family^ 
the devoted loyalist Colonel Henry Cromwell." 



BEFORE GOING TO SCOTLAND. XVll 

When the news of this calamity reached the Hague, 
Charles's court consisted of the Marquis of Montrose, the 
Lords Hopton, Wilmot, Colepepper, and Wentworth, Sir 
Edward Hyde, and Sir Edward Nicholas ; to whom we may 
add Colonel Massey, who had just abandoned the service 
of the Parliament, and joined his lawful King. They im- 
mediately went into mourning for twelve months. 

No sooner was the fact of the King's murder known in 
Ireland and Scotland, than the Prince of Wales was pro- 
claimed King in both these countries. The Scots sent a 
deputation to him, while he was still at the Hague, consist- 
ing of Sir Joseph Douglas, a few commissioners, and three 
or four ministers of the Kirk, inviting him to Scotland ; but 
only " on the condition of his good behaviour, his strict 
observance of the Covenant, and his entertaining no other 
persons about him, but such as were godly men, and faith- 
ful to that obligation."" This language was sufficiently ob- 
jectionable, but the behaviour of the persons composing the 
deputation was still more so ; for they refused to keep com- 
pany with the Marquis of Montrose, whom they styled 
" that excommunicated traitor James Graham ;" and they 
were nearly as much opposed to the Duke of Hamilton and 
the Earl of Lauderdale, who had lately been banished from 
Scotland, simply because they had been " engaged" in 
an unsuccessful attempt to rescue Charles L out of the 
hands of his enemies;^ nor, indeed, did they shew the least 
respect for any of the King's court, for no better reason 
than that they knew they were hostile to their Covenant. 
On these accounts, Charles felt no desire to put himself into 
their hands for the present, but turned his thoughts to- 
wards Ireland, to which he had been invited to go by the 
Marquis of Ormond. But the news of Cromwell's arrival 

^ The celebrated " Engagement'* was entered into in 1648, between the 
Scottish Parliament and Charles I. for the deliverance of the latter from the 
English ; he consenting to ratify the Solemn League and Covenant, and to 
establish Presbyterianism in Scotland for three years certain, but reserving 
liberty of worship for himself and his personal suite. This treaty, however, 
came to an unfortunate end, owing to the opposition of the Kirk, which 
nothing would satisfy short of unlimited concession. The " engagers " were 
excommunicated or banished, until they repented and did penance for their 
offence. 



xviii OUTLINE OF CHARLES Il/S LIFE, 

and rapid success in that country, soon made it evident that 
it would be very unsafe to venture there ; and as, for several 
reasons, he could not remain longer in Holland, he deter- 
mined on returning to his mother at Paris. 

We will accompany him there once more, and again hear 
Mademoiselle de Montpensier^s narrative of what occurred 
at the French court., in reference to the flirtations betwixt 
him and herself. But it is necessary to premise that this 
part of her " Memoirs '' begins while Charles was still in 
Holland, and before he had abandoned the design of going 
to Ireland : — " After Monsieur (the young lady's father) 
came to the Court, the Abbe de la Riviere came to me and 
said, that the Queen of England was doing all she could to 
persuade Monsieur to consent to the marriage of her son 
with me ; that my Lord Jermyn (the Queen's English Secre- 
tary), was seconding her endeavours ; that I ought not to 
be unconcerned about it ; and that Monsieur was coming to 
speak to me on the subject. He came accordingly, and 
asked me what I thought of this marriage ? I answer- 
ed that I would obey him in every thing, as he knew 
better than I what was most for my benefit. A few days 
after, the King of England sent my Lord Perron to offer 
his comphments to their Majesties, and to obtain their 
permission for him to return to France. This Lord and 
Jermyn paid their court to me very assiduously. The 
Queen (of France) wished much for the marriage, and so 
did the Cardinal (Mazarin). The latter assured me that 
France would powerfully assist the King of England, that 
he had still many supporters in Britain, and that the whole 
of Ireland was subject to him. The Queen said she loved 
me as if I were her own child ; that she never would have 
entertained this proposal, if she had not thought it for my 
advantage ; that the Queen of England, who was one of 
the best persons in the world, had a great friendship for 
me ; and that her son the King was passionately fond of 
me, and desired nothing so much as to marry me. I re- 
plied that he did me too much honour, and that though the 
affairs of the King of France did not then allow of his giv- 
ing such aid as would restore him to his throne, I would 



BEFORE GOING TO SCOTLAND. XIX 

nevertheless do whatever Monsieur might advise. She 
rallied me on the subject of the marriage in the presence 
of my Lord Jermyn, and I blushed. Monsieur FAbbe 
came again to me to speak about it, and told me that Jer- 
myn v^as going to the King of England, who was still in 
Holland ; that he was desirous of receiving a positive an- 
swer to his proposal, because his affairs obliged him to go 
immediately to Ireland ; that if I would give my consent, 
he would at once come and marry me, and remain long 
enough to give me the pleasure of being presented at court 
in my new rank ; that then I should go with him to St 
Germains, where the Queen of England had been since the 
court left it ; that he would, after that, go to Ireland ; and 
that, as to myself, I might live at Paris in the same style 
I had been used to. I told the Abbe that this last arrange- 
ment was out of the question ; that I would go to Ireland 
with the King, if he wished it, and, if not, I would stay 
with his mother, or in one of my own houses ; that it would 
not be seemly for me to mix in the amusements of the 
world, while the King was with his army, or that I should 
live up to my rank, when I ought to sacrifice every thing 
in order to send money to him ; that I could not, with- 
out pain, see him entangled in such a war ; and, in short, 
that if I married him, I could not avoid selling all my pro- 
perty, and hazarding every thing for the recovery of his 
kingdoms ; and these thoughts, I confessed, troubled me, 
who had been brought up in affluence and indulgence. The 
Abbe admitted I was right, but he advised me, at the same 
time, to consider that there was no more suitable match for 
me in Europe than this ; that both the Emperor and King 
of Spain were now married ; that the King of Hungary was 
betrothed to the Infanta of Spain ; that the Archduke 
would not probably be ever King of the Netherlands ; that 
I would never take any of the German or Italian princes ; 
that in France, the King and Monsieur (meaning the King's 
younger brother) were too young to marry ; and that the 
Prince (of Conde) had been married ten years, and his wife 
was in extremely good health. I laughed and said, the 
Empress is in the family way, and may perhaps die in 



XX OUTLINE OP CHARLES IL S LIFE, 

child-birth ! After due consideration, I said, if Monsieur 
desire that I should marry the King of England, I should 
prefer doing so while he is unfortunate, because then he 
^^•ill feel under an obligation to me ; and when he recovers 
his throne, he will consider me as in a great measure the 
cause of it, from the aid I shall have rendered him/' A 
little farther on, Alademoiselle tells us that, in discoursing 
with Lord Jermyn about the difference of religion betwixt 
Charles and herself, she said, " It is a difficulty I could 
never get over. If the King of England has any regard 
for me, he will sacrifice something for me on this point, in 
which case I will make other sacrifices for him. He an- 
swered that, situated as the King was, he could not declare 
himself a Catholic ; and gave very strong reasons for it, too 
many for me to remember ; but the chief of them was, that 
he would thereby for ever exclude himself from his domi- 
nions. We had a long dispute about this, and when he 
took leave, he expressed his hope that all the difficulties I 
had mentioned would be surmounted."" " When the King 
of England arrived at Peronne, a courier came to announce 
this to their Majesties. The Queen said to me, here is 
your gallant arrived ; and the Abb^ spoke to me in the 
same style. The day when he was to come to the court, 
we got up early to meet him, as he was to dine at Com- 
piegne, and we required to be there before him. My hair 
was curled, which was not usually the case ; and when I 
went into the carriage with the Queen, she said, it is plain 
you are expecting your gallant, for how^ g^-ily you are 
dressed ! I was going to reply, but said nothing. When 
we met the King, we all ahghted. He saluted their Ma- 
jesties, and then me. I thought he looked well, and better 
than when he left France. Had his ' esprif corresponded 
to his looks, perhaps from that moment I should have loved 
him. When we Avere in the carriage, the King asked him 
about the Prince of Orange, dogs and horses, and the sports 
of Holland, and his answers were in French ; but when 
the Queen asked him about his own affairs, he gave no an- 
swer. When he was questioned on yie most important 
matters which related to himself, he pleaded that he could 



BEFORE GOING TO SCOTLAND. XXI 

not speak our language. I confess, that from that time I 
determined not to marry him. I formed a very poor opi- 
nion of a king of liis age, who seemed to have no knowledge 
of his own aifairs ;^ though I knew well enough that the 
race of the Bourbons are fonder of amusement than of busi- 
ness ; and it may be that I am so myself, both of my parents 
being of that family. At dinner, the King ate no ortolans, 
but he threw himself upon a piece of beef and a shoulder of 
mutton, as if there had been nothing else upon the table. 
After dinner, the Queen occupied herself about her own 
matters, and left me alone with him. For a whole quarter 
of an hour he did not say one word. I was willing to be- 
lieve that his silence proceeded more from respect than 
from want of love, though on this occasion I could have 
wished it had been otherwise. As I was growing ennuyee^ 
I called Madame de Comminges to come and help me to 
make him speak, and this succeeded. Monsieur TAbbe 
said to me, that he was looking at me the whole time of 
dinner, and that he still looked at me incessantly. I re- 
plied, what is the use of looking, if he does not speak ? It 
is because, he said, you make light of the gallant things he 
says to you. Excuse me, I said ; come near us when we 
are together, and you shall see how he behaves. The Queen 
having again retired, I approached the King, and, to make 
him speak, I asked him about some persons belonging to 
his suite whom I knew ; he answered me, but without a 
single expression of gallantry. When the time of his de- 
parture came, we got into the carriage, and conveyed him 
to the middle of the forest, where we first met him. He 
there took leave of the King ; and when, accompanied by 
Lord Jermyn, he came up to me, he said, I understand that 
Lord Jermyn, who speaks French better than I, has ex- 
plained to you my sentiments and my intentions. I am 
your very obedient servant. I replied that I was his very 
obedient servant. Lord Jermyn made his compliments, and 
then the King saluted me and departed." 

1 This was a harsh censure ; for Charles might have an object in conceal- 
ing his plans from the French court ; and besides, though he could talk about 
dogs and horses in tolerable French, it did not follow that he could do so on 
political subjects. 



XXll OUTLINE OF CHARLES K.'s LIFE, 

After what had passed between the King and his fair 
cousin, it is not easy to account for his extreme reserve and 
silence, supposing her account of the matter to be correct ; 
nor is it reconcileable with his usual behaviour to the other 
sex. 

But Charles did not quit France for three months after 
this, and was destined to meet his volatile cousin once 
more before his departure. During this interval, he passed 
his time at St Germains with his mother. — " When I 
learnt," proceeds our authoress, " that he was about to go 
away, I went to take leave of him, and to pay my respects 
to his mother. When we met, she said to me I ought to re- 
joice with you on the death of the Empress (!) because, though 
your marriage to the Emperor failed on the former occasion, 
it will not probably fail this time. I replied that, as to that, 
it gave me very little concern. She then said, here is one 
who is of opinion that a king of eighteen years old is pre- 
ferable to an emperor of fifty, who has four children. She 
went on bantering me in this style for some time, but added 
that her son was too poor and too unfortunate for me. She 
then relented, and pointing to an English lady of her suite, 
of whom her son was enamoured, he dreads, she whispered, 
lest you should know it ; observe how ashamed he is to see 
you in her presence, through fear that I should tell you of 
it. When he withdrew, she said to me, come with me into 
my cabinet ; and when we were there she closed the door, 
and said, the King, my son, has begged of me to ask your 
pardon if the proposal which was made to you at Compiegne 
offended you, which he much fears may be the case. He 
has ever since been troubled with this idea, and cannot 
divest himself of it. For me, I was averse to charge my- 
self with this commission, but he urged me so importunately 
that I could not refuse. I now think with you that you 
would have been unhappy with him ; I love you too much 
to desire your union, though it would have been a great 
benefit to him had you consented to share his unfortunate 
destiny. All I can venture to hope is, that his projected 
expedition may be succesful, and that then you will think 
more favourably of our proposal. In reply, I expressed my 



BEFORE GOING TO SCOTLAND. XXlll 

regard and good wishes in the best terms I could, and 
then took my leave to go to the abbey of St Louis at Poissy, 
two leagues distant, where two of my sisters had been 
placed." 

" The Duke of York offered to accompany me if I would 
bring him back to St Germains, which I agreed to do, as 
he was only a little boy. The King also wished to go, but 
to this I objected. He then asked his mother to go with 
him, w^hich she did, and they all three came in my carriage. 
During the whole journey the Queen spoke of nothing but 
of the happy terms on w^hich her son would live w^ith his 
wife, and that he would love no one but her. This he him- 
self confirmed, and said that he could not comprehend how 
any man, who had an amiable and discreet wife, could think 
of loving another woman ; and that for himself, whatever 
inclination he might have for another before marriage, that 
would be at an end from the moment he became a husband. 
All this might be true, but it had very much the appear- 
ance of having been preconcerted. I stayed but a short 
time at Poissy, as it was getting late, and, after taking leave 
of the Queen, w ho remained there, I was led to my carriage 
by the King, who paid me some forced compliments, with- 
out any expressions of love, w^hich indeed at that time 
would have been useless, as my head was wholly filled with 
the idea of becoming an Empress." 

We shall meet with Mademoiselle and Charles, after the 
latter s return from Scotland, about two years from this 
time, and meanwhile we must advert to other and more im- 
portant matters. But, before proceeding to them, I may 
merely state here, that so bent was Mademoiselle on the 
German alliance, that she had the indelicacy to despatch, 
or at least to consent to the despatch of, an envoy to the 
court of Vienna to negotiate the affair on her own behalf ! 
The proposal, however, proved unacceptable, as the Em- 
peror fixed on the Princess of Mantua for his next wife. 
This, as may be supposed, caused the deepest chagrin to 
Mademoiselle ; but her vanity got the better of her ambi- 
tion. At least she wished the world to believe this ; for 
she tells us in her Memoirs that her only regret was, that 



XXIV OUTLINE OF CHARLES IL S LIFE. 

she had ever taken the matter so much to heart ; " while, 
I may add, without vanity," she says, " that God, who is 
just, would not bestow a woman like me on a man who was 
undeserving of her"' ! Perhaps the Divine justice was more 
truly manifested in subsequently bestowing her on a man 
who was the means of punishing her for her excessive 
vanity, inconsistency, cold-heartedness, and ambition. 

But we must now return to Charles. The French 
authorities, through a mean fear of offending the English 
parliament, did not encourage him to remain in France, 
and therefore, in September 1 649 he returned to Jersey, 
which still acknowledged his sovereignty. Here he re- 
ceived another deputation from the Scots, inviting him 
to Scotland, but on the same offensive conditions as 
before. The King avoided giving them a definitive an- 
swer, but promised to meet their Commissioners at Breda, 
in the month of March following, under the mediation of 
their common ally, the Prince of Orange, and there settle 
the preliminaries of a formal treaty with them. While at 
Jersey, he wrote to the Marquis of Montrose, who was at 
that time preparing, with Charles's own commission, to lead 
an army into Scotland, in order to co-operate with the roy- 
alists there, desiring him not to be deterred from his enter- 
prise by any reports that might reach him of his treating 
with the Presbyterians, but to rely on his continued coun- 
tenance and support. He wrote from the same place to 
the Rev. Robert Douglas, one of the leading ministers of the 
Kirk of Scotland, entreating him " to use his credit among 
his brethren to persuade them to reasonable moderation, 
and to that confidence in him as might produce the like 
affection in him towards them, and be the ground of a right 
understanding between them." 

On his way to Breda in March 1650, he met his mother, by 
appointment, at Beauvais, who strongly urged him to throw 
himself into the arms of the Scots, and to comply with all 
their demands, as his only remaining chance of success. He 
met the Scots Commissioners at Breda at the time agreed 
on ; and I now proceed to give the details of the transac- 
tions there, and of the important events which followed. 



INTRODUCTION. 




HE Scottish Parliament constituted the Earls 
of Cassillis and Lothian, on the part of the 
nobility, — Alexander Brodie of Brodie,^ and 
George Winram of Libberton, Lords of the 
Court of Session, on the part of the barons, — 
Sir John Smith, and Alexander Jaffray, Commissary of 
Aberdeen, on the part of the burghs, — and the Rev. Messrs 
James Wood, Professor of Church History in St Mary's 
College, St Andrews, John Livingstone, minister of Ancrum, 
and Greorge Hutchinson, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, 
on the part of the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland — as a 
deputation to wait on Charles II. at Breda. These with 
their Secretary, Mr James Dalrymple^ (afterwards Lord 
Stair), and followers, embarked at Leith on Saturday the 
9th of March 1650,^ and arrived at Campvere on the 
Tuesday following. They had " a letter of credit to 

1 This Commissioner has left a large MS. Diary (extending from the year 
1636 till about the time of the Restoration), which I have seen. It is written 
in cypher or short-hand, so as to be almost illegible without a key. A small 
part of it, however, but subsequent to the period we are now going to sui*- 
view, was decyphered, I know not by whom, or by what means, and printed 
in 1740. It abounds with pious reflections, much tainted with the fanaticism 
of the age, and containing very few historical allusions. Brodie seems to 
have been a man of great sincerity, but of a timid and wavering disposition. 

2 This gentleman had been a captain in the Presbyterian army, and after- 
wards a Professor in the University of Glasgow. He was knighted by 
Charles II. after the Restoration, and created a Viscount by William IIT. 
He is well known as the author of " Institutes of the Law of Scotland," &c. 

^ Let it be observed, once for all, that the dates in this work, are in the Old 
Style, which was then used in Great Britain. The New Style, was regarded 
with suspicion by our Protestant forefathers as having originated at Rome. 

1 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

borrow, beyond seas, upon the credit of the kingdom, the 
sum of ^300,000'' (Scots), to give to the King, on condition, 
and not otherwise, of his agreeing to their terms. This 
was no more than ^£^25,000 sterling ; and small as the sum 
was, it was afterwards found that they could not raise so 
much on the public credit of Scotland, or rather, perhaps, 
of the then existing Government ; and all that the Commis- 
sioners could do was to borrow 100,000 merks, or about 
£5500 sterling on their own personal security, to be repaid 
on the i st of August following.^ 

Before the arrival of the Commissioners, some difficulty 
had been made by the King and his advisers as to his ac- 
knowledging that to be a Parliament which had been con- 
voked without his authority ; but it was soon seen that it 
would be impolitic to urge this objection, especially as much 
more serious ones were likely to arise in the course of the 
negotiation. 

The terms which the Scottish Commissioners had to 
propose to the King were as follows : — 

1. " That all those who have been and continue excom- 
municate by the Kirk of Scotland may be removed from 
having access to the Court. 

2. " That he (the King) would be pleased to declare that 
he would, by solemn oath, under his hand and seal, allow 
the National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League 
and Covenant of Scotland, England, and Ireland,^ and that 
he would prosecute the ends thereof in his royal station. 

3. " That he would ratify and approve all Acts of Parlia- 
ment enjoining the Solemn League and Covenant, and esta- 
blishing Presbyterial government, the Direatory of Worship, 
the Confession of Faith and Catechism, in the kingdom of 
Scotland, as they are already approved by the General 
Assembly of the Kirk, and by the Parliament of that king- 
dom ; and that he would give his royal assent to the Acts of 

^ Balfour's Annals, iv. p. 68. Acta Parliam. Car. II. pp. 538, 603 
2 The National Covenant had been enacted m a. d. 1580 under James VI. 
against Popery, and was extended or enlarged in 1638 ; and the Solemn 
League and Covenant was enacted by the Westminister Assembly in 1643 
against Px'elacy or Episcopacy. When the Covenant is spoken of, it always 
means the latter of these two. 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

Parliament enjoining the same in the rest of his dominions ; 
and that he would observe the same in his own practice and 
family, and never make opposition therein, or endeavour 
any change thereof. 

4. " That he would consent and agree that all matters 
civil might be determined by the present and subsequent 
Parliaments of the kingdom of Scotland, and all matters 
ecclesiastical by the General Assembly of the Kirk, as was 
formerly condescended and agreed to by his late father." 

To these proposals two more were subsequently added, 
1st, That his Majesty should ratify all that had been done 
in the Parliament of Scotland since the year 1641 ; and, 2d, 
That the Marquis of Montrose and his adherents — who 
were known to be at that time preparing for a descent upon 
Scotland against the Covenanters, in support of the royal 
cause — be prohibited access to that kingdom. 

A very few remarks may be made on these singular de- 
mands from subjects to their acknowledged sovereign : — 
Firsts liberty of conscience was denied him ; for he was to 
observe Presbyterianism " in his own practice and family," 
though known to be an Episcopalian. Secondly/, though he 
were to establish Presbyterianism in Scotland, he could not 
engage to do so in " the rest of his dominions," England 
and Ireland being then under the rigid government of a 
puritanical parliament. Thirdly^ he would equally offend, 
and really did offend, the members of the Church of Eng- 
land, and the Irish Koman Catholics, by signing a docu- 
ment which was utterly at variance with the creeds of both. 
Fourthly^ Charles I. had publicly forbidden the Solemn 
League and Covenant, styling it " traitorous and seditious ;" 
and his son, who was at this time of the same religious 
persuasion as his father, could not possibly approve of a 
document which enjoined the " extirpation of Prelacy." 
Lastly^ he was required to promise consent not only to 
what the then existing Parliament and Assembly had agreed 
to, but to what all suhsequent ones might be pleased to en- 
join ! 

Proposals liable to such formidable objections as these 
looked very like building up with one hand what was pulling 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

down with the other, in which case no reasonable hope 
could be entertained of a satisfactory accommodation. 
Charles should at once have refused his assent to such de- 
grading terms, whatever might be the consequences ; on 
the same principle that the early Christian martyrs refused 
to sacrifice to the heathen gods, though .they knew that, on 
account of such refusal, the severest penalties awaited them. 
The crown even of three kingdoms would be dearly bought 
at the expense of conscience. 

Meantime, in order to further the success of the above 
treaty, a Fast had been proclaimed throughout Scotland, 
to be held on the 7th April ; and with this object was 
strangely blended, the suppression of " Malignants'"* {i. e. 
devoted royalists), of " Sectaries'"* {%. e. English Puritans), 
and of " witches,'' which were never known to be so nume- 
rous in Scotland as at that period.^ The intention of those 
and other Fasts was to stir up the minds of the people, by 
sermons and prayers, for the particular purpose which the 
Kirk had in view. 

Of " Malignants" and " Sectaries'"* we shall hear much 
more in the following narrative ; but let me here, once for all, 
say a few words respecting the " witches."" The morbid 
desire of trying and burning these unhappy persons seems 
to have been connected, in some mysterious way, with the 
reign of the Solemn League and Covenant, the hatred of 
Malignancy, and the prevalence of immorahty. Certain it 
is, that these things run side by side in all the contemporary 
Kirk records. We have few details of the punishment of 
witches, because the poor creatures were handed over to 
the civil power for execution ; but the records of the period 
abound with references to the facts. Lament, in his " Diary ,"2 
says, that in the summer of 1649, very many witches were 
taken and burnt in several parts of this kingdom, as in 
Lothian; and in Fife, at Inverkeithing, Aberdour, Burnt- 
island, Dysart, and Dunfermline. An Act of the Scottish 
Parliament of the same year renders " consulters with 

^ NicoII's Diary, p. 6. 

2 Chronicle of Fife, being the Diary of John Lamont of Newton, 1649-1672. 
4to. 1830. 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

witches'" liable to death, '' I myself^ says Sir James 
Balfour. '' did see, the 20th July this year (1649), in one 
afternoon, commissions generally directed by the Parliament 
for trying and burning 27 witches, women, and 8 men and 
boys. Their depositions were publicly read in face of Par- 
liament, before the house would vote for the President's 
subscribing of the Act for the Clerk's issuing of these com- 
missions. Likewise, divers commissions were given by the 
Lords of Council in November and December, this same 
year, for trying and burning of witches.'"* In December 1 649 
(1 confine myself as nearly as possible to the two years I am 
now reviewing), the Presbytery of Lanark sent for " George 
Cuthie the pricker, who hath skill to find out the mark in 
witches," — " and with consent of the forenamed suspected 
women of witchcraft (there were twelve of them), the said 
Greorge did prick pins in every one of them ; and in divers 
of them without pain the pin was put in, as the witnesses 
can testify, as the process at more length bears." i Those 
women were so numerous that the said Presbytery ordered 
them to be imprisoned, and twelve men to watch them by 
turns every twenty- four hours, night and day, till they 
were brought to trial ; and certain ministers were, at the 
same time, appointed to try and bring them to confession. 
At Dysart, in April ] 650, certain husbands joined in an 
accusation, before the Synod of Fife, of witchcraft against 
their own wives, and in this they were joined by their own 
children.^ In May, the same year, the very day after the 
Marquis of Montrose's execution, the Scottish Parliament 
appointed a Committee to try the depositions oi fifty -four 
witches, with power to the said Committee to issue com- 
missions for their farther trial, examination, and execution ; 
and also to think upon a constant course and commission 
for that effect hereafter, and to report.^ And again, in 
December the same year, " the commissioners of Dunbar- 
ton's bill was read, seeking a commission for putting some 
witches to execution upon confession — granted."^ Often 

1 Presbytery Book of Lanark, p. 75. ^ Records of the Synod of Fife, p. \iS9. 
^ Balfour's Annals, iv. p. 22. 

* Ibid. iv. p. 194. See in my History of St Andrews, ii. p. 18, a curious 
account of a supposed witch, who very narrowly escaped burning in 1650. 



b INTRODUCTION. 

those women confessed themselves to be witches — meaning, 
I suppose, that they had used incantations. 

With this prevaihng propensity, immoraHty of all kinds 
abounded to an alarming extent — a proof that the religion 
which then passed for godliness was wholly ineffectual for 
checking vice. Cromwell himself, in a letter from Edin- 
burgh, of the 25th September 1650, says, " I thought I 
should have found in Scotland a conscientious people, and 
a barren country. About Edinburgh, it is as fertile for 
corn as any part of England ; but the people generally are so 
given to the most impudent lying and frequent swearing, that 
it is incredible to be believed." Nicoll, a very honest-minded 
diarist, and not opposed to the Covenant, says (under date 
February 1 650), " Much falsehood and cheating at this time 
was daily detected by the Lords of Session, for which there 
was dail^ hanging, scourging, nailing of ears, and binding 
of the people to the trone,^ and boring of tongues ; so that 
it was a fatal year for false notaries and witnesses, as daily 
experience did witness. And as for adultery, incest, forni- 
cation, bigamy, and other uncleanness and filthiness, they 
never abounded more than at this time." Lament bears 
his testimony in similar strong language. It is true that 
Kirkton, an enthusiastic historian of the period, passes a high 
eulogium on the religious feeling then existing, and his state- 
ment is often quoted in proof of the very opposite conclu- 
sion I am endeavouring to establish ; but we may under- 
stand his notions of religion and its effects from the follow- 
ing words : — " Ministers," he says, " were painstaking, and 
people were diligent ; and if a man had seen one of their 
solemn communions, when many congregations met in great 
multitudes, some dozen of ministers used to preach, and the 
people continued, as it were, in a sort of trance (so serious 
were they in spiritual matters), for three days at leasts he 
would have thought it a solemnity unknown to the rest of 
the world." What kind of religion it was which consist- 
ed of being " in a trance for three days at least," may be 
imagined ; but I have httle doubt that Kirkton was right 
in saying that such a scene was " was unknown to the rest 

' The public weighing machine in the market-place. 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

of the world,'' unless we except the American camp-meet- 
ings of modern times, where religious excitement takes the 
place of the moral duties, and the worst disorders are known 
to prevail. 

" The Assemblies,"" says Orme, in his Memoirs of Dr 
Owen, " were exceedingly zealous in putting down Episco- 
pacy, in establishing uniformity, and in passing persecuting 
laws, but had much less of the spirit of Christ than their 
office required. The English army and ministers had but 
a low opinion of the state of religion on their coming into 
Scotland." According to a testimony from the army (quoted 
by Whitelock, p. 456), the Church of Scotland was " a Kirk 
whose religion is formality, and whose government is ty- 
ranny, a generation of very hypocrites and vipers." And, 
lest this should be called the testimony of an enemy, we 
may add, that Mr Hugh Binning, one of the leading Pres- 
byterian ministers of that day in Scotland, witnesses to the 
same effect. " What," he asks, " is now the great blot of 
our visible church I Here it is — the most part are not 
God's children, but called so ; and it is the greater blot that 
they are called so, and are not." And again he asks — 
" Set aside your public service and professions, and is there 
any thing behind in your conversation but drunkenness, 
lying, swearing, deceit, wrath, covetousness, and such like ? 
You neither bow the knee in secret, nor in your families, 
to God."i 

xsot, however, that the Covenanters were without some 
virtues ; but these were mixed up with so many blemishes, 
and even vices, that the former were more than neutralized 
by the latter. Thus, they would on no account sw^ear or 
fight a duel, yet they were guilty of forswearing their al- 
legiance to their lawful King, and fought against him for 
whom God had commanded them to honour and pray. They 
did not omit to read and quote Scripture, and to hear long 
sermons — but they inflicted severe corporal punishments, 
and even death, on those who presumed to differ, however 
conscientiously, from themselves.^ They were not charge- 

1 Writings of Hugh Binning, pp. 518, 546. 

* For example, on Montrose and his followers. 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

able with riot, or debauchery, or gallantry, — but they could 
deceive and betray, whenever they had an end to gain by 
so doing. They would not get drunk — but they thought it 
no sin to cherish " malice, hatred, and all uncharitable- 
ness," against those whom they deemed their enemies. 
They kept the first day of the week very strictly, but 
made no scruple of returning " railing for railing" towards 
their opponents. In short, during the period we are about 
to review, there never was more of the language and ap- 
pearance of piety^ and never less of the reality and practice 
of it : the former having been adopted seemingly as a sub- 
stitute for the latter. 

The following two short extracts from the Kirk-Session 
Book of Aberdeen, may give us an idea of how very rigidly 
the first day of the week was then observed : — " July 165 I. 
Intimation was made out of the pulpits of our burgh, by 
the ministers thereof, that no inhabitant within the same, 
of whatever Cjuality, walk about the fields, or repair in com- 
panies to the Castlehill, on the Lord's day, after sermon ; 
with certification to be punished as the Session shall think 
fit." — "August 1651. John Barclay, sharply admonished 
by the moderator, in the name of the Session, for going to 
the Old Town on the Lord's day hetwixt sermons'^ — a distance 
of one mile ! Those Sabbatarians, who " strained at a 
gnat and swallowed a camel," and regulated their conduct 
by the rule of contraries, had forgotten that, while our 
blessed Lord added to the stringency of the other Nine 
Commandments, he considerably lessened that of the Fourth : 
for He and His disciples walked through the fields on the 
Jewish Sabbath ; and on the very first Christian Sunday 
He walked to Emmaus, a distance of sixty furlongs, or 
more than seven of our miles — two of the very things which 
the ministers of Aberdeen thought fit to prohibit. 

At the risk of being accused of making too many quota- 
tions, I cannot avoid giving here an extract from D'Israeli's 
Commentaries on the Life and Reign of Charles I., on the 
subject under consideration : — '' When the strength and 
glory of England were placed in the hands of the Puritans, 
their extravagant conduct on many national subjects was 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

never more visible than in their sabbatic regulations. It 
seemed as if religion consisted chiefly of the Sabbatarian 
rigours, and that a British senate had been transformed 
into a company of Hebrew Eabbins. In 1650, an Act was 
passed for inflicting penalties for breach of the Sabbath, 
some of which included dancing and singing, or travelling 
in a boat, on horseback, or in a coach, or sedan, except to 
church. This exception occurred on the remonstrance of 
one of the members of the House of Commons complaining 
that, in their zeal, they had tied the godly from going to 
church by water or coach ; for that he, coming from West- 
minster to Somerset House to sermon, had his boat and 
waterman seized for the penalty."^ Our modern Sabbata- 
rians carry matters even farther than the Puritans, for 
they will not allow people to go to church by a mail railway 
train, though it is going at all events ! ^ 

The sermons of the period under our review consisted, in 
a great measure, of discussions on the political topics of the 
day, or of tirades against the men and measures which 
were obnoxious to the Kirk. At all the presbyterial exa- 
minations of ministers, one of the questions put to the pa- 
rishioners was, Whether their minister preached sufficiently 
against ^lalignancy and Sectarianism ? Thus, in the visita- 
tion of the parish of Logie, in Fife, in 1650, one of the 
complaints against the minister was, that " he was sparing 
in speaking against the evils of the time, especially/ Malig- 
nancy ; and that he speaks not enough for our deliverance 
from James Graham^ This and other charges having been 
proved against him, he was suspended from preaching till 
he gave evidence of his repentance.^ 

' D'Israeli's Commentaries on the Life and Reign of Charles I., vol. iii. p. 387. 

2 But let me not be misunderstood. I am so far fi-iendly to a due obser- 
vance of the first day of the week, that I shall help the Sabbatarians to a 
much stronger argrmient in favour of it than any I have ever yet seen ad- 
vanced at their public meetings, namely, that the people of Scotland (thanks 
to those who have abolished the Fasts and Festivals of the Holy Church Uni- 
versal) confine their religion so entirely to the Sunday, that if they are de- 
prived of this, they are deprived of nearly all the religion they have. 

5 Records of the Presbytery of Cupar, p. 154. Two other charges brought 
against this minister, were — his choosing " impertinent texts of Scripture for 
his discoui-ses," and " that he was incHned to a set form of praver 1" 



10 INTRODUCTION, 

In like manner, when Cromwell was in Grlasgow, as we 
shall see in the course of this narrative, one of the Presby- 
terian ministers who preached before him is said to have 
spoken " well to the times," and another to have given '^ a 
testimony against the sectaries." The celebrated Robert 
Leighton, afterwards Bishop of Dunblane, was at this time 
minister of Newbattle. The answer he gave, when he 
was rebuked for not preaching more to the times, is well 
known — " For God''s sake, when all my brethren are preach- 
ing about the times, suffer one poor minister to preach about 
eternity.'''' 

It will give the reader a more complete notion of this 
period, if I here quote one passage from the Memoirs of 
Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheill,^ respecting the power of the 
parochial courts of Scotland, or kirk-sessions, as they are 
called. " Every parish," says the author, " had a tyrant, 
who made the greatest lord in his district stoop to his au- 
thority. The kirk was the place where he kept his court : 
the pulpit his throne or tribunal, from whence he issued out 
his terrible decrees ; and some twelve or fourteen ignorant 
enthusiastics, under the title of elders, composed his council. 
If any, of what quality soever, had the assurance to disobey 
his edicts, the dreadful sentence of excommunication was 
immediately thundered out against him, his goods and 
chattels confiscated and seized, and himself looked upon as 
actually in the possession of the devil, and irretrievably 
doomed to eternal perdition. All that conversed with him 
were in no better esteem." A reference to the records of 
the Presbyteries and Synods, some of which have been re- 
cently printed, ^ amply confirms this statement, and shews 
that if any person in the parish were suspected of holding 
opinions hostile to the Presbyterianism of the age, he or she 
was summoned before the kirk court, a first, second, and 
third time, and interrogated ; and if he still refused to sign 
the Covenant, " keep the kirk," as it was called, and com- 
municate, he was subjected to " the dreadful sentence of 
excommunication," with all its civil penalties ; which com- 

' Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheill, printed for the Abbotsford 
Club, p. 87. 

2 Those, namely, of St Andrews, Cupar, Fife, Lanark, and Strathbogie. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

monly had the effect of producing a hypocritical conformity 
to what the penitent inwardly abhorred ; nor was he relaxed 
from his punishment till he had made his confession in 
sackcloth, on his bare knees, in his parish kirk. The fol- 
lowing examples, selected from the year 1650, may serve to 
illustrate this state of things: — " In May 1650, James Dury, 
being called, appeared, and was declared by the minister to 
have been out of the kirk eight Sabbaths ; and because he 
would in no ways give satisfaction, by submitting to the 
discipline of the Kirk, he is recommended to the civil magis- 
trate to he put in firmance till he find sufficient caution to 
give satisfaction to the Order of the Kirk."-^ " 25th Sept. 
1650. The said day, Catherine, Mary, and Jean Gordon, 
daughters to Carnborrow, having been summoned pro tertio, 
and not appearing, were ordained to hear the Word, com- 
municate, and subscribe the League and Covenant, under 
pain of excommunication."^ On the same day, "John 
Ogilvy of Milton, in Keith, did appear, and gave in his 
supplication, humbly acknowledging his accession to the 
late horrid rebellion against God and Ms cause, [meaning 
Montrose's attempt in favour of the King] ingenuously 
declaring his great grief of heart for the same, promising 
to walk more religiously in all time coming ; and so, for 
taking away his scandal for his great offence, he humbly sub- 
mitted himself to the Presbytery ; whereupon he was desired 
to subscribe the bond made concerning it, and ordained to 
make his repentance in sackcloth in Keith, and thereafter 
to be received to the League and Covenant."^ In the 
Presbytery Book of Lanark there is a sort of running fight, 
carried on for no less a period than fourteen years (from 
1643 till 1657), between the members of the Presbytery on 
the one hand, and the Marquis and Marchioness of Douglas, 
on the other ; traces of which appear in almost every page 
of the records, and sometimes they occupy whole pages to- 
gether. The noble couple were Koman Catholics, and na- 
turally enough did all they could to avoid, or to evade, the 
orders of the Presbytery ; in doing which, they certainly 
exhibited wonderful ingenuity and perseverance ; occasion- 

^ Presbvtery Book of Cupar. - Presbytery Book of Strathbogie. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

ally pleading ill health, as a reason for delay — or want of 
time for getting farther information on the subject in dis- 
pute — or the pressure of public and domestic affairs. Next, 
they " keep the kirk,'' for a season, with tolerable regu- 
larity, and afterwards fall off in their attendance ;— now, 
they submit to be publicly rebuked from the pulpit, on their 
knees, in the hope that they might thus propitiate the 
Presbytery ; and then, they grow restive under the Kirk 
discipline, and renounce it. The Presbytery, meanwhile, 
were continually renewing their commands to the obstinate 
pair, under the threat of excommunication, to " keep the 
kirk'"* more regularly, and to subscribe the Covenant and 
the Confession of Faith — at one time, sending a minister, 
at another a whole committee of ministers, to argue or re- 
monstrate with them — imposing on them a tutor of their 
own persuasion for the instruction of their children, and 
even a chaplain for the performance of their family devo- 
tions ; and insisting on their bringing back from France 
certain members of their family, who were being popishiy 
educated in that country, &;c. At length, in 1650, the de- 
linquents, evidently to get rid of this troublesome impor- 
tunity, sign the Covenant and promise obedience ; but, in 
1657, " outbreakings" of former misbehaviour begin to 
manifest themselves ; after which, there is a blank of seve- 
ral years in the records, and we hear no more about the 
matter. The truth is, that when the English gained the 
ascendancy in Scotland, they refused to support the Kirk in 
her intolerance, and abolished the civil penalties of excom- 
munication ; so that many of those who had previously 
submitted threw off the yoke, and took advantage of the 
liberty of conscience which was then generally conceded. 
But it is time that I return from this long digression. 
I cannot think it was any feeling of disinterested loyalty 
on the part of the Covenanters which prompted them to 
bring back Charles II. to Scotland. Hallam says, that 
" the Scots were attached, if not by royal affection, yet by 
national pride, to the blood of their ancient kings." This 
might be true in regard to the masses of the people, but I 
am unable to detect any traces of it among the governing 



INTRODUCTION. 1 3 

party in either Kirk or State. It is true they made great 
pretensions to loyalty, as they did to evangelical piety ; 
but, judging by their conduct^ they had as little of the one 
as they had of the other. This is completely proved by 
the fact, that the very same party who called Charles II. 
to the throne, had, only some years before, raised an 
army under Leslie, and marched into England, to assist, 
the Parliament against Charles I., and afterwards sold 
their monarch into the hands of his enemies ; for which 
traitorous and rebellious deeds they had never once ex- 
pressed the slightest compunction. And the same thing is 
proved by their subsequent treatment of the second Charles 
himself and his adherents. But the Enghsh sectaries were 
at this time acquiring the upper hand, in consequence of 
which, the darling Covenant was in danger. Their object, 
therefore, was to make the King their tool to serve their 
own ends, to prevail on him to become a Covenanter like 
themselves, to throw the weight of his influence into their 
scale, and thus to balance the rising power of the Indepen- 
dents, who were keenly opposed both to their exclusive 
pretensions, and to their intolerance. 

Mr Jaffray, one of the commissioners to the King at 
Breda, admits thus much in his Diary ; ^ and, occupying 
so distinguished an office, he must have been well acquaint- 
ed with the secret springs of the Covenanting Government. 
" The English army," he says, " having disappointed so 
far our expectations in carrying on the work of union and 
uniformity in the three nations, conformably to the model 
and design of Scotland (so cunningly plotted and contrived 
in the League and Covenant), they were likely, in establish- 
ing both civil and ecclesiastical affairs, to carry it plain 
contrary to what was intended and hoped for ; for instead 
of presbytery being established in the Kirk of Scotland, 
whereby they (the Presbyterians) might rule all, there was 

1 This Jaffray, after being a Presbyterian, became an Independent, then a 
Fifth-Monarchy man, and lastly a Quaker ; and, having been connected with 
the Barclays of Urie in Kincardineshire, the MS. of his Diary was acciden- 
tally found in that mansion, and published by one of the family in 1834. It 
ought to be observed, that when he compiled his Diary he had become a 
Quaker, which accounts for his speaking so disparagingly of the Covenant. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

likely to be set up a lawless liberty and toleration of all re- 
ligions, whereby they would be altogether disappointed. 
To prevent this deluge and overflowing scourge, as it was 
then thought to be, no means icas thought to he so fit as 
bringing home our King." 

In confirmation of how little loyalty entered into their mo- 
tives, the General Assembly of the Kirk had told the King, 
in an address which they made to him the year before this, 
that " if he, or any having or pretending to have commis- 
sion from him, shall invade this kingdom upon pretext of 
establishing him in the exercise of his royal power, as it 
will be a high provocation against Grod, so it will be a 
necessary duty to resist and oppose the same."" Men who 
could use such language as this to their lawful King do not 
surely deserve to be complimented on their loyalty. Still, 
they were desirous of having the King among them for the 
reasons I have mentioned; so much so, that when they 
discovered, as they soon did, that at the very time he was 
treating openly with them on the footing of the Covenant, 
he was secretly in concert with Montrose for invading Scot- 
land as the opponent of that Covenant, and as the uncom- 
promising supporter of the royal authority, they contented 
themselves with wreaking their vengeance on that gallant 
nobleman and his followers, connived at Charles's duplicity, 
and did all they could to uphold him, in order to set him 
in opposition to the English Parliament for the accomplish- 
ment of their own ends.^ 

As a farther instance of the credulity or insincerity of 
the parties concerned, we read in Balfour's Annals that 
the Marquis of Argyll, after Montrose's defeat, reported to 
the Scottish Parliament that " he had a letter from the Earl 
of Lothian (then one of the commissioners at Breda), which 

1 See Robert Douglas' Letter to the King, dated, Edinburgh, 21st February 
1 650, in Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, Lib. xi. In the same place is a letter 
from Chancellor Loudon, written in January to the King, and one from the 
Marquis of Argyll in March, urging him, as the only way to please God and 
benefit himself, to subscribe the Westminster Standards of Theology, and to 
enjoin the same " in all his Majesty's dominions." One thing is remarkable 
in these documents, that Argyll's spelling is much inferior to that of Loudon 
and Douglas, which last scarcely differs from that of the present day. 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

shewed him that his Majesty was noway sorry that James 
Graham was defeated, in respect, as he said, he had made 
that invasion without, and contrary to his command." 
Whether Charles had authorised this to be written may be 
doubted, for Argyll was just as capable of forging a false- 
hood to serve his purposes as the King was ; but it is certaJn 
that the Parliament was quite ready to credit this announce- 
ment ; and when men are walling to be deceived, they are 
just as much to blame as those who deceive them. At any 
rate, no good could be expected ultimately to arise from a 
behaviour which was characterised by such hypocrisy on 
the one side, and such credulity on the other. 

It was a great fault in Charles that he agreed to accept 
the Crown of Scotland from those who were actuated by 
such a temper, and who imposed their Covenant upon him 
as the condition of their allegiance. A covenant, as its 
very name denotes, is an agreement willingly entered into 
between two or more parties. What, then, are we to think 
of an agreement unwiWmgly entered into by one of the 
parties — nay, in a manner forced on one who, at the mo- 
ment he put his hand to it, repudiated it in his heart? 
Not to add that this Covenant required the " extirpation" 
of the very form of Christianity which Charles professed ; 
it threatened his supporters, the " Malignants," with " con- 
dign punishment;" and it contained expressions of such 
doubtful signification, that they might, and did, give rise to 
endless controversies. Had the King refused to sign this 
obnoxious deed, he would have been no loser in the end ; 
and he would have been saved the disgrace of taking an 
oath which he could never have intended to keep, and 
which indeed if he had kept, he would have committed a 
still greater error than he did in breaking it.^ 

The Scottish Commissioners reached Breda on the 12th 
of March, and were informed that the King had not yet 
arrived there, but that he was on his way from Beauvais to 

^ Is signing the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is done constantly 
in Scotland at this day, by men who notoriously disbeheve its contents (and, 
I will add, who ought to disbeUeve a great part of it), any better than Charles 
signing the Solemn League and Covenant ? 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

meet them. They proceeded to Bergen-op-Zoom, where 
they met him, and returned with him to Breda on the 16th. 
On the I8th, they were joined by the Duke of Hamilton, 
and the Earls of Lauderdale, Callender, and Dunfermline — 
Scottish Peers who had been banished from their country 
for no higher an offence than because, in conformity with 
an Act of Parliament, but contrary to the decree of the 
Kirk, they had entered into the " Engagement'"* to en- 
deavour the rescue of the late King out of the hands of his 
enemies. Those loyal noblemen were most anxious to bring 
about a reconciliation between Charles XL and his Scottish 
subjects, but their appearance at this juncture was far from 
being agreeable to the Commissioners. 

We may form an idea of the pecuniary embarrassments of 
Charles at this time, from a fact mentioned by Sir Edward 
Nicholas, then at Breda, in a letter to the Marquis of Or- 
mond, that he could not have performed his journey from 
Beauvais to that place had he not, by good fortune, met 
with an English merchant, who lent him o£^200 ; and that 
while at Breda he was obliged to live at the sole charge of 
the Prince of Orange.^ 

On the 19th, the Commissioners were conducted by Lord 
Wentworth, Master of the Ceremonies, to the presence of 
his Majesty, in order to deliver their credentials, and to 
open their first communication to him on the subject of 
their mission. 

Livingstone, one of the clerical commissioners from the 
Kirk, has left us a curious account of what passed at Breda 
during the negotiation with the King. Like all the Pres- 
byterians of that age, he was Covenant mad^ and withal, 
both narrow-minded and simple-minded ; very infirm of 

^ Mary, the eldest daughter of Charles I., was married to the Prince of 
Orange in 1641. He died a few months after the events we are now record- 
ing ; and nine days after his death his princess was delivered of a son, after- 
wards William III. of England. 

2 " A perfect furor (says Warhurton in his Life of Prince Rupert, vol. ii., 
p, 244) seized the Scotch on this subject. Many wept as they signed [the 
Covenant], some drew their blood to render the record of their vow more 
vital ; and women sometimes remained in the kirks from Friday to Sunday 
in order to hear the Covenant preached about." 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

purpose, as we shall see, and easily persuaded to act 
against his own judgment. But as his style is really a very 
graphic one, and brings the scenes he describes before the 
reader much better than I could do, it will be desirable to 
allow him to speak for himself. — 

" When we were come to Bredah, it was put on my Lord 
Cassills to make some speech to the king at our first re- 
ceiving, and on me to make ane other speech after him in 
name of the Church. This speech I did prepare, wherin 
were some things a litle free, such as I thought became 
ane minister to speak concerning the king himself and his 
father s house, and the counsells and wayes he had followed. 
This speech I did communicat, first to the commissioners 
of the Church, after to those of the State ; but it was once 
and again so altered with delations and additions, that it 
was nothing like itself. Everything that was thought harsh 
behooved to be delate, and some things added such as 
would be thought most savorie in the entry of the treaty 
to the king and the court. I thought it was not my part to 
stand peremptory for ane paper of my own drawing, and 
they told me that I was not to show my own minde, but 
theirs. Thus I agreed to all. So dangerous it is for ane 
man of simple disposition to be yoked to these who, by 
witt, authority, and boldness, can overmaster them." 

^Ir Kobert Long, the King's Secretary, and who after- 
wards accompanied him to Scotland, was present at the 
delivery of this speech of Mr Livingstone, and thus com- 
municates the circumstance to the Marquis of Ormond, in 
a letter dated Breda, the 20th March.^ — " Since the 
dispatch of Master Rawlins from Beauvais, his Majesty is 
arrived at this town of Breda to meet the Scots Commis- 
misioners, who are likewise come, being the persons named 
in the enclosed note. Yesterday they delivered their letters, 
one from the Committee of Estates, the other from the 
Assembly of the Church, and gave in copies of their re- 
spective commissions and authorities, which are in their 
usual language. At the delivery of them, one of the minis- 
ters made a long speech to the king, wherein there was no- 

1 Carte's Collection, i. p. 373. 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

thing extraordinary, hut tlte tone of the speaker and manner 
of the delivery heing such as our ears ham not been accustomed 
toy One can readily believe this; but Mr Long would 
perhaps have reported differently of the speech itself, if Mr 
Livingstone had not made the " delations'" and " additions,'^ 
and had introduced into it the " savorie"" bits which his 
brother commissioners had persuaded him to omit. 

It would seem that at this time an unnecessary delay 
occurred, from the desire of some of the Commissioners to 
see a little of the surrounding country. Their time was 
limited by the Scottish Parliament to thirty, or at most 
forty days, and yet a whole week was wasted before they 
gave in their papers ; and after that, some of the party went 
to Antwerp and Brussels, where they spent eight or ten 
days in enjoying themselves. 

The chief advisers of the King were the Dukes of Hamil 
ton and Buckingham, the Marquis of Newcastle, and Mr 
Secretary Long ; but the demands of the Scottish Com- 
missioners were at first thought so unreasonable that they 
could by no possibility be yielded. Such, however, was 
the desire of all parties for an amalgamation that, by each 
dropping somewhat of their claims, an approach was in the 
end made to something like a settlement. 

" We found the king,'" continues Livingstone, " of an 
courteous and tractable like disposition, which made some of 
us suspect that if all of our number had dealt alike earnestly, 
especially Lothian and Liberton, who most frequently and 
privatly resorted to court, but most of all Liberton, that 
the king at the first had granted all our desyres fully." 

" None of us three ministers ever went to the king alone, 
but offcest altogether, or at least two of us. We went but 
seldom ; but whenever we went, so soon as the king knew, 
we had access and liberty to stay and speak so long as we 
pleased." 

" One tyme, I lyeing [ill] of the megrim (a nervous head- 
ache), the other two having been at him, reported to me, 
that, having entered in some kinde of dispute with him 
about Episcopacy and ceremonies, they found he had been 
poisoned in his principles by those that had been with him ; 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

denying [that] the Scripture was ane perfect rule in those 
things contraverted, and enquireing how people knew that 
it was the word of God, but by the testimony of the 
Church r — Here Charles shewed himself a better theologian 
than Livingstone and his brethren, since nothing can be 
more certain than that the testimony of the church is of in- 
dispensable importance, not only to the divine origin of Epis- 
copacy, but to the very canon of the New Testament. 
This holy volume did not fall down to us from heaven in 
the form in which we now possess it ; but the books of 
which it consists (written at different times, by different 
persons, and for different purposes) were carefully selected 
hy the Church from among many which claimed to be in- 
spired. In truth, an appeal to the testimony of the early 
church, as supplementary to the New Testament, is the 
main point of difference between the Church of England on 
the one hand, and the Church of Rome, and the modern 
denominations, on the other ; the former of these two sub- 
stituting her own authority for the testimony of the early 
church, and the latter setting - aside that testimony alto- 
gether. — " At the beginning of the treaty, it was reported 
to us by Liberton, that ane gentleman had come to the king 
from Paris, being sent by his mother, desyring that by all 
means he should close with the Scots." "All the while, it was 
so looked upon that there were two factions at court, the 
one being the Queen's faction, the other called Prince 
Rupert's;'' in other words, the Cavalier, and the Roma- 
Covenanting Factions ; for, strange as it may seem, the 
Romish party w^ere at all times anxious for the success of 
the Covenanters ; because, being the two extremes which 
met, they were both co-operating for the overthrow of the 
Church of England, which was the ma media between them, 
equally distant from both, and equally disliked by both.^ 

1 The Queen-mother acted with great disingenuousness in this matter ; for 
while she favoured the covenanting, in opposition to the cavalier party, and 
thereby did what she knew very well her late husband would have disap- 
proved of, she afterwards did all in her power to convert to Popery those 
members of the Church of England who were in her suite, by telling them 
tlmt her son, in signing the covenant, had virtually abandoned their chm'ch ! 
— See Carte's Collections, i. p. 453. 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

This antagonism of parties, and conjunction of Romanism 
with Presbyterianism, gave great uneasiness to poor Living- 
stone, and the more so, because, in the Scottish Confession 
of Faith, the Pope is declared to be '^ Antichrist, and the 
Man of Sin.'"* " All these things," he says, " made me 
alwayes suspect there would be no blessing on the treaty, 
and many a time Mr Hucheson and I, whose chambers 
joyned close one to another, would confess one to another 
that we were glad when the treaty was like to break off, 
and sad when there was appearance of closing it." He 
then proceeds to give his reasons for this dissatisfaction, 
some of which were — that the King granted nothing but 
what he was in a manner forced to, and some things 
which he should and would have granted, were not even 
asked — the State Commissioners promised him a union of 
parties in Scotland in aid of his cause, which they might 
have known was an impossibility — they pretended that they 
had private instructions to guide them in addition to their 
official orders — and, in the end, they dispatched their Secre- 
tary with a copy of the treaty to Scotland, making themselves 
too sure that the Parliament would sanction every thing 
they had done. " All these things," adds our author, " I 
was unsatisfied with, and, in my own blunt way, declared 
the same as I had occasion to speak, but had not the abilitie 
or hardiness to debate or argue any of these things ;" and 
then he goes on to censure himself for his timidity and irre- 
solution. 

But if Livingstone and his brother ministers were per- 
plexed how to act, much more was Charles himself, though 
for very different reasons. The Queen and the Covenanters 
joined in urging him to go to Scotland on the terms of the 
latter. On the same side, though on somewhat different 
grounds, and impelled more by necessity than choice, were 
the Duke of Hamilton, and the Earls of Lauderdale, 
Callender, Carnwath, and Dunfermline, and the Prince of 
Orange himself. On the other side were nearly the whole 
of the king's court and personal followers, and what was 
more, his own conscience and decided predilections. 

Mr Secretary Long, in the same letter I have quoted 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

above, states another difficulty in the way of the treaty, 
which I do not find mentioned elsewhere ; " I the rather 
fear they (the Scots covenanters) will be rigorous in their 
demands, because the rebels of England make them large 
offers, to prevent them from agreeing with the king ; as, 
d^200,000 ready money ; Berwick and Carlisle to be de- 
livered to them ; settling Presbyterian government ; defend- 
ing with their navy the Scots trade and commerce by sea, 
with other considerable advantages. These difficulties are 
in the way of our agreement. I beseech God to assist us 
in it, that we may use all necessary care and prudence to 
bring on a happy conclusion." 

At this juncture, Charles received the news of Montrose's 
discomfiture and capture;^ and also of a loss at sea sus- 
tained by the commander of his ships, Prince Eupert. This 
had the effect of disposing him to acquiesce in most of the 
Covenanters demands, as he had now no hopes from any 
other quarter. There was one other circumstance which 
turned the scale on the same side. He was waited upon 
by a person who came to him secretly from a body of Pres- 
byterians in England, and promised him their co-operation 
if he would comply with the wishes of their friends in Scot- 
land. These men had all been the enemies of Charles I. 
at the beginning of the Rebellion ; but after his murder, they 
privately corresponded with their party in Scotland for the 
restoration of his son, and for the suppression of the Inde- 
pendents. Their efforts ended in no good to him, and in 
positive injury to themselves ; for some of their leaders were 
executed for this very offence ; but their offers of assistance 
at this time were sufficient to determine Charles and his 
adherents on going to Scotland with the Commissioners, 
when other motives for and against that measure seemed 

^ The following is extracted from the records of the Presbytery of St An- 
drews : — " May 15th (1650) Thanksgicing for the tictory against Graham — 
the presbytery received a letter from the Commissioners of the General As- 
sembly, shewing that Thursday the 23d of this instant, is appointed for a day 
of solemn thanksgiving to God for the late glorious and seasonable victory, 
against ejccommunicate, bloody, jjerfidious James Graham and his associates.'' 
If these men had had one grain of loyalty, they would have respected, or at 
least spared, the servant for the sake of the master. 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

about equally balanced.^ This decision was come to on 
the very last day allowed by the Scots Parliament for the 
duration of the treaty, and Mr Secretary Dalrymple was 
sent home with the intelligence. But it may here be ob- 
served, that the ministers had no voice in the reception or 
rejection of this decision, and were not even allowed by 
their lay brethren to write home their opinion about it; ^ 
which seems a curious anomaly, and not very reconcileable 
with the extraordinary powers at that time claimed and 
possessed by the Kirk. 

" The Saturday before the king left Breda to come to 
Scotland," thus Livingstone goes on, " we got notice, about 
three or four a'clock in the afternoon, that he was to com- 
municate kneeling to-morrow after. We that were Com- 
missioners from the Church, prepared ane paper, and pre- 
sented it to him ; and both by the paper, and by speech, 
shewed the sin of so doing, and provocation against God to 
procure the blasting of all his designes, and what incon- 
veniency it might bring on his bussiness, and confirmation 
to all his enemies, and what scandall to such as were 
honest ; and how it was against that which he had granted 
in his concessions, and [would] confirm some to think he was 
but dallying with God and with us.^ We left him to think 

^ In this year, though in what month it is uncertain, Charles applied by 
letter to the reigning Pope for pecuniary aid from his holiness, and, through 
him, from the other princes of Christendom, in his attempts to recover his 
dominions. In this letter he styles him Beatissime Pater ; he reminds him 
of the Catholicity of his mother ; and declares himself so far friendly to the 
same faith, as that he will grant full liberty of worship to his Catholic sub- 
jects, restore them their property lately confiscated by the English Parlia- 
ment (" the enemies of God, of the church, and of monarchy,") and will re- 
peal all the penal laws which had been enacted against them. The English 
Parliament got hold of a copy of this letter ; and, aware how odious the very 
name of Popery was to the Scots, published it with comments, in order to 
shew what an unfit person the Presbyterians had pitched upon for their Co- 
venanted King. — (Somer's Tracts, a. d. 1650). It does not appear that the 
Pope complied with Charles's request, but there can be little doubt that he 
could have done more for him, at that time, than any prince in Europe. He 
probably dreaded the restoration of the Church of England, and was pleased 
to see Protestants quarrelling with one another. 

2 Life of Robert Blair by Row, (Wodrow Society Edition), pp. 226, 227. 

3 Livingstone had an unaccountable feeling on this subject, for when on his 
death-bed, he gave utterance to these words, " The Lord was pleased to take 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

upon it till after supper ; but when we went to him, we 
found him tenaciously resolute to continue his purpose. He 
said his father used allwayes to communicat at Christmas, 
Easter, and Whitsunday, and that he behooved to- doe soe 
likewise, and that people would think strange of him if, 
having resolved to communicat, he should forbear it, and 
that he did it to procure ane blessing from God upon his 
intended voyage/' Charles kept to his purpose, and received 
the communion from the hands of one of the banished 
bishops, namely, " Dr Bramhle, who was once pretended 
Bishop of Doun,"' as Livingstone is pleased to style him. 

The reader will scarcely recognise, under this name and 
designation, one of the most learned prelates, voluminous 
writers, and judicious reformers of the Irish Church — Dr 
Bramhall^ Bishop of Derry, and afterwards Archbishop of 
Armagh. He had been stripped of all his property, as well 
personal as ecclesiastical, by the puritanical faction, had 
escaped with difficulty to the Continent, and was now at 
Breda ; but in the biographical memoirs of him, I find no 
account of how he got there, or what part he took in the 
pending negotiation ; though it is fair to suppose, from his 
eminent abilities, that his advice would not be without its 
weight. Livingstone speaks sneeringly of the ex-bishop ; 
but, in truth, his education and habits, and above all, his 
religious prejudices, unfitted him so much as to comprehend 
either the Catholic faith, or the gigantic intellect of such a 
man as Bramhall. 

Charles's court at Breda consisted of several noblemen 
and gentlemen, whom the prevalence of republicanism and 
fanaticism in Great Britain and Ireland had driven from 
their country. These were the Dukes of Hamilton and 
Buckingham, the Earls of Lauderdale, Dumfermline, and 
Cleveland, and Lord Wentworth, the latter's son ; also, 
Lords Widdrington, Wilmot, Sinclaire, and Grandison, Sir 
R. Dalzel, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, Sir P. Musgrave, Sir 
Edward Walker, Dr Eraser (afterwards Sir Alexander 

me when I was young, and to keep me on his side ; for when 1 was at the 
College of Glasgow, he engaged me in ane opposition to kneeling at the com- 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

Fraser of Durris), Mr Rogers, Mr Seymour, Mr Rothes, 
Dr Goff, JNIr Harding, and about twelve or fourteen more 
of inferior rank ; the two last named being styled by the 
Covenanters " corrupt chaplains," that is, episcopal clergy- 
men. 

A modern writer calls these friends of the King, I know 
not on what authority, " a train of unprincipled men ;"' and 
certainly it has been the custom of their opponents to re- 
present all " Cavaliers'' as loose both in their language 
and their morals. That some of the inferior grades were 
so, one can easily imagine ; and Sir Walter Scott, at any 
rate, has thought fit to make them so in his novels ; putting 
numerous oaths and dissolute speeches into their mouths, 
some of which had been much better omitted ; though this, 
perhaps, he has done chiefly for the sake of effect^ and to 
furnish a contrast to the puritanical precision of the oppo- 
site party. But the upper ranks of the Cavaliers were, for 
the most part, so far from being " unprincipled men," that 
they were the very opposite ; and greatly superior to their 
contemporary opponents, as well as to their modern im- 
pugners, in every thing that is estimable and noble. I can- 
not find that, with the exception of two or three of Charles's 
numerous suite, any of them could be called " unprincipled ;" 
unless by that word be understood, an extreme aversion for 
the religious fanaticism which had then overspread their 
native country, — " Your friends the Cavaliers," said a 
puritan to a royalist, " are very dissolute and debauched." 
" True," replied the latter, " they have the infirmities of 
men ; but your friends the Roundheads, have the vices of 
devils — tyranny, rebellion, and spiritual pride." Even Mr 
Macaulay admits that " the Cavaliers had far more pro- 
found and polite learning than the Puritans, their manners 
were more engaging, their tempers more amiable, their 
tastes more elegant, and their households more cheer- 
ful." 

It was never meant by the Presbyterians, that any of 
Charles's cavalier followers, on account of their " malig- 
nancy" (which was then deemed much worse than moral 
profligacy, and punished far more severely by their own 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

*' Act of Classes"^ ^), should accompany the king to Scotland: 
and yet, from its being his particular wish, and from the 
connivance of the lay Commissioners, they were permitted 
to do so. But we shall find, in the sequel of this narratiYe, 
that the ultra-covenanting party afterwards made it a spe- 
cial ground of complaint, that " some of the Commissioners 
were too forward to complete the treaty with the king; 
and when the parliament disapproved of some parts of it, 
they failed to intimate this to him ; but^ contraij to their 
instructions, allowed him, and a wicked company o/SeotHsk 
and Emlish nudigmuits to embark for Scotland ; and this 
too, after the discovery of his intercourse with the Marqnis 
of J^Iontrose, at the very time of the treaty, and without 
any e\'idence of a real change in him."" 

Mr Secretary DalnTiiple had been sent to Scotland with 
an account of the progress of the treaty ; and now a mes- 
senger, Edward Gillespie, returned with positive instruc- 
tions not to bring the king back, unless he yielded more 
than he had already dine. This delighted Livingstone and 
the ministers, but vexed the lay Commissioners, who thought 
that they would not get Charles at all, if they were over 
rigid in their demands. T 7 irssage, it so happened, ar- 
rived when all the Comir: : ^ were actually embarked 
at Seheveling, onboard : . U Dutch fleet which the 
Prince of Orange had provided for them, except Lords 
CassiUs and Lotliian, who were with the king at Unslodyke. 
The fleet here mentioned consisted of three ships, command- 
ed by Van Tromp, son of the celebrated Dutch admiral of 
that name. The day on which the message arrived from 
Scotland, was Saturday, the 11th June. The Commis- 
sioners immediately disembarked, for the purpose of repair- 
ing to their two brethren and the king, with the fresh instruc- 
tions they had received ; but this was not easily accom- 
plished. The \^Tnd did not admit of their landing at the 
nearest point which led to Unslodyke ; but from the place 
where they did land (and that was not till midnight), they 
dispatched two couriers before them to acquaint the king 
and the two lords with what had occurred; and begging 
^ Cooeeming this " Act of Oases," see ifae sequel, under Mardi 1651. 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

them not to embark till they should see them. " We our- 
selves," continues Livingstone, " behooved to goe about by 
the Hague, and rode all night, and coming to Unslodyke 
about break of day, or a little after, found that the king 
and all were gone. We followed so fast as we could dryve 
to Tarhay ; but all were gone aboard. The two that we had 
sent mett the Lords, and spoke as we had desyred them, 
but they said Lothian would needs goe aboard with the 
king, and drew Cassills along with him. When we were 
standing amazed on the shoare, one Mr Webster of Amster- 
dam comes to go aboard, and warn the king that the Par- 
liament of England had some twenty-two ships at sea to 
wait for him." — These ships are stated elsewhere to have 
been under the command of Admiral Popham. — " He going 
aboard in a boat, Liberton, without more adoe, runs to the 
boat to goe aboard to the rest, and after him Sir John 
Smith upon his call in the same boat. Brodie, Alexander 
Jaffray, and we three ministers, stayed. Some of us may 
say we never had ane heavier day than that Sabbath 
wae. After prayer together and apart, when we were con- 
sulting what to doe, Mr James Wood his opinion was to go 
aboard, saying, it was a pity that the king and my Lord 
Cassills should be there and none to preach'^ to them. 
Brodie and Alexander Jaifray said, it was to be wished that 
they had stayed ashoare, but now as matters stood, it wes 
best to goe aboard and discharge their duty in [according 
to] the last instructions from the Parliament. Mr George 
Hucheson inclined to the same. For my part, I told I had 
no inclination, nor no light ^ to goe aboard. I thought both 
in regard of the prophane malignant companie, and in regard 
how matters stood in the treaty, we were taking along the 
plague of God to Scotland, [and] I should not desyre to goe 
along, but would goe back to Rotterdam, and come with the 
first conveniency T could. Hereat Mr Hucheson said he 
would goe along with me to Rotterdam. I urged him, that 
seeing his light served him to goe abroad, he would not draw 

1 Pi'eaching was all in all with these ministers, as it still is with their suc- 
cessors ; divine worship is a secondary consideration. 
^ i. e. he had no evidence he was doing right. 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

back from it forme. I had Edward Gillespie, who brought 
us the Parliament's letters, and John Don, and my brother, 
Andrew Stevensone, to goe along with me. He persisted 
that he would goe with me, yet thereby my minde did not 
inclyne me to go aboard. By this time, ane boat comes from 
the king's ship, and letters from the two Lords, to desire us, 
as we would not marr the bussiness of the king and king- 
dome, to come aboard. Yet for all this my mind was bent for 
Rotterdam. At last, Brody and Mr Huchesone proponed 
ane overture that I should only goe in the boat to the ship's 
side, and there the rest to come down to the boat, that we 
might speak ane little of our bussiness, and I take my leave 
of them, and come ashoare again in the same boat. To this, 
although unwillingly, I agreed. When the boat was come 
to the ship's side, and the rest gone up, I stayed in the boat 
looking they should come down ; but Cassills and Mr 
Hucheson came and called me up, saying, it would be un- 
seemly for commissioners of the kingdom of Scotland, in 
sight of so many onlookers, to come to ane open boat to 
speak of any bussiness ; I only should come a little to the 
gunner-room and speak with them, and the boat should be 
stayed till I should goe back. I went up, desyring an 
young man that was with me to w^ait that the boat did not 
goe away ; but within a little time he comes and tells me 
the boat w^as gone and under sail. Whether this was 
done of purpose, men making an mock of my peevishness 
and folly, as they thought it, or otherwise, I will not deter- 
mine ; but I looked on myself as in little other condition 
than ane prisoner. That night,. when they were consulting 
what to doe in reference to their last instructions, Lothian 
and Liberton were of the minde that no application by 
papers should be made to the king anent these last late 
instructions, till they were arrived in Scotland, saying, that 
if they did it, it would provock the king to take some other 
course, and not to goe to Scotland at all." 

" The next day, I not being well, and having but very ill 
accommodation in that ship wherin the king was, Mr Jaffray 
and I went to the ' Sun of Amsterdam,' ane other of the 
three ships, and stayed there till Tuesday of the next week, 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

at which time, having had the winds alwayes contrary, we 
came all to ane anchor at Heligoland, in the mouth of the 
Elbe ; at which time, Mr Jaffray and I being called aboard 
the king's ship, and consultation being had what to doe in 
reference to the new instructions, if it had not been that 
Sir John Smith, who used not before in his vote to differ 
from Lothian and Liberton, had given his vote for applica- 
tions, there had none been made before we had come to 
Scotland. But he and Brodie and Jaffray being for applica- 
tion, it was carried by one vote, and so papers were prepared 
and given to the king."*' The result was, that the king 
promised generally to do any thing that the parliament 
might require of him. 

The very reverend John King, Dean of Tuam (who tells 
us he had his information from Mr Long, the King's Se- 
cretary) says, that " the Commissioners, in consequence of 
the first instructions they had received from Scotland, and 
the intelligence of Montrose's execution, demanded that 
the king should instantly sign the Covenants ; and also dis- 
own the peace which his Lieutenant the Marquis of Ormond 
had, in his majesty's name, recently made with the Irish," 
(and which his majesty had solemnly confirmed), because, in 
that treaty, " liberty of poj)ish worship" was allowed them : 
" By which heightening of propositions," says the Dean, 
" his majesty was so disgusted, that he resolved to have 
landed in Denmark, and to lay aside all thoughts of coming 
to Scotland upon such terms ; but, overcome with the en- 
treaties of his friends and servants, who laid before him the 
present sad condition of his affairs, he yielded." i 

Thus was the King forced by his own subjects to act against 
his convictions, in such a manner, that had he done the same 
towards the meanest of tliem^ all Europe would have rung 
with the story of his oppression and intolerance. And it 
was surely a very bad beginning of an agreement with the 
Scots, when they insisted, and he consented, that he should 
violate an express treaty he had lately made with the Irish, 
that they should be indulged with liberty of conscience ; a 
liberty, indeed, which he was willing at this time to con- 

' Carte's Collections, i. p. 3.96. 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

cede to all his subjects, but which the Covenanters denied 
both to the Irish and to himself, and to all who differed from 
them. And we may remark here, that Charles subsequently 
received far less benefit from the support of the Scots than 
he received injury from the Irish, for the violation of their 
treaty, as well as for his recognition of the Covenant, to 
which they, of course, were keenly opposed. 

" It was laid on me," continues Livingstone, " to preach 
the next Sabbath when he should swear it, and to read 
the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Cove- 
nant, and to take his oath ; the which day also we came to 
ane anchor at the mouth of Spey. I would gladly have put 
it off, desyring it might be delayed till we were in Scotland, 
or that some of the other two ministers might preach ; but 
all the rest pressed me most earnestly, urgeing what ane 
great scandal it would be, and how far honest men would 
be unsatisfied, if, the king offering to swear the Covenant, 
he should be rejected. According to my softness and silli- 
ness of disposition, I was moved to agree." It is much to 
be regretted that his softness of disposition did not rather 
shew itself in urging the king not to sign a deed which every 
person knew was contrary to his conscience. 

The following was the declaration annexed to the Cove- 
nants : — " I Charles, King of Great Britain, France, and 
and Ireland, do assure and declare, by my solemn oath in 
the presence of the Almighty God the searcher of hearts, 
my allowance and approbation of the National Covenant, 
and of the Solemn League and Covenant above written, 
and faithfully oblige myself to prosecute the ends thereof, 
in my station and calling ; and that I, for myself and suc- 
cessors^ shall consent and agree to all acts of Parliament 
enjoining the National Covenant, and Solemn League and 
Covenant, and fully establishing Presbyterial government, 
the Directory of Worship, the Confession of Faith and 
Catechisms, in the kingdom of Scotland, as they are ap- 
proved by the General Assembly of this Kirk, and Parlia- 
ment of this kingdom. And that I shall give my royal 
assent to the acts of Parliament enjoining the same in the 
rest of my dominions ; and that I shall observe them in my 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

royal practice and family, and shall make no opposition to 
any of these, or endeavour any change thereof." 

Charles was anxious to qualify his subscription, to the 
effect, that he meant not thereby to infringe any existing 
law of England and Ireland. But this would not be listen- 
ed to. " We all went to the king and told him we could 
not receive his oath if he added any one word to the words 
read, but would declare the oath no oath. He pressed much 
and long that he behoomd to doe it^ so that I began to be hope- 
full his swearing might be put off for that day."" At 
last, however, he yielded and swallowed the bitter pill. 
Yet Livingstone was not satisfied ; for he afterwards com- 
plained that he had been admitted to his government, " with- 
out any evidence of ane reall change in his heart, and with- 
out forsaking former principles, counsells, and company ;'' 
and Jaffray, in his " Diary," remarks, " We did sinfully 
both entangle and engage the nation and ourselves, and 
that poor young prince to whom we were sent ; making 
him sign and swear a covenant which we knew, from clear 
and demonstrable reasons, that he hated in his heart. Yet, 
finding that upon these terms only, he could be admitted to 
rule over us (all other means having then failed him), he sin- 
fully complied with what we most sinfully pressed upon him ; 
where, I must confess, to my apprehension, our sin was more 
than his, &c. I spoke of this to the king himself, desiring 
him not to subscribe the Covenant, if, in his conscience, he 
was not satisfied ; and yet we went on to close the treaty 
with him who, I knew so well, had for his own ends, done it 
against his heart.'' And what made this matter still worse 
was, that the very men who had obliged Charles to sub- 
scribe this obnoxious document, had not one particle more 
confidence in him after he had signed it than they had be- 
fore ; so that there was a twofold sin committed, and no- 
thing gained by it but remorse and disappointment ! 

This violation of his conscience, and loss of his innocence, 
coupled with his appeal to heaven in attestation of his sin- 
cerity, was Charles's first downward step in his career of 
degradation. From this fatal moment he must have lost a 
large portion of his self-respect, and thereby greatly weaken- 



INTRODUCTION. *31 

ed his motives for amendment. He proceeded, under the 
same influence, from one degree of dupHcity to a greater ; 
and he had the additional mortification of seeing that no 
good came, and of feehng that no good could come, out of 
a poHcy so tortuous and immoral. 

A modern author of a " History of the Church of Scot- 
land, "^ strongly condemns Charles II. for signing the 
League and Covenant ; and yet, speaking of Charles I., he 
complains that that monarch was prevented from signing 
the same document " by the pernicious advice of his narrow- 
minded, selfish, prelatic counsellors." This is a singular 
inconsistency. Surely, when we disapprove of the senti- 
ments contained in a document, we ought to refuse at once 
to have anything to do with it. Thus did Charles I., and 
thus his son should have done. But in the eyes of some 
writers, the unhappy Stewarts were wrong in every thing 
they did. 

Charles, we have seen, had been made aware that the 
English parliament had dispatched armed ships to intercept 
him in his passage to Scotland ; but by steering a somewhat 
circuitous course, he was fortunate enough to escape them. 
In nine days his fleet arrived at Holy Island, where they 
remained a short time to take in water and provisions. 
Sailing again, they entered the Murray Frith, on Saturday 
the 2 2d June. Here they ran a narrow risk of being cap- 
tured ; for it was found that the English ships that were in 
pursuit of them, had sailed out of the Frith on the preced- 
ing day ! 

As soon as the fleet came to anchor, Livingstone sat 
down and wrote the following letter to his friend and cor- 
respondent Mr Robert Douglas, dating it " a boord the 
Sluidam of Amsterdam, laying at anchor at the mouth of 
Spey, Sabbath, 23 June 1650." — " Reverend and Dear 
Brother, — About 10 or 11 a'clock, we came to anchor after 
much tosseing. All the particulars mentioned in your last 
letters are holpen ; and the king hath granted all desyred, 
and this day hath sworne and subscribed the two Covenants 
in the words of your last declaration, and with assurance to 
renew the same at Edinburgh, when desyred. What diffi- 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

culties we have had, and what deliveries, wee hope to impart 
at meeting. For the heart, the Lord judgeth ; bot for the 
outward part, I think you shall not desiderate anything. 
I say no more. Mr Hutcheson is goeing to sermon, and 
we are not to goe ashoare till to-morrow. The Lord's 
blessing be on his work and people, and you all. Your 
loving brother. Johne Livingstone." ^ 

In the 1 4th volume of the Statistical Account of Scot- 
land, published in 1791-9, under the head of Speymouth, 
I find the following allusion to the King's landing; — 
" Charles IL landed at Speymouth from Holland in the 
year 1650. Some say, he arrived first at Cromarty. It 
is certain, however, he came by sea to Spey ; as the de- 
scendants of a man of the name of Milne, who carried his 
majesty on shore, are still inG-armouth, and are distinguished 
from others of that name, in the same place, by the name 
of ' King Milnes,' from that circumstance. He was here 
received by the Laird of Innes and other gentlemen ; and 
dined with the factor of Lord Dumfermline, who lived in 
Grarmouth, in a house which was only lately taken down." 
Among others who received him at landing, were Mr Arthur 
Erskine of Scotscraig, and Mr Secretary Dalrymple. After 
dinner, he was conducted to the Bog of Gicht, now Gordon 
Castle (near Fochabers, a few miles distant), in which the 
Parliament had placed a garrison. 

^ Wodrow Society Biographies, vol. i. p. 259. 







V ^ - 



PERSONAL HISTORY 



OF 



KING CHARLES THE SECOND, 



ANNO 1650. 




S soon as it was known that the King had 
positively come to Scotland, the Parlia- 
ment, which did not scruple to exercise the 
most absolute sovereignty over the Sovereign 
himself, ordained that " his Majesty should 
come from Aberdeen to Dunottar ; from thence to Kin- 
naird, the Earl of Southesk^s house ; thence to Dundee ; 
from it to St Andrews, and then to his own house at Falk- 
land." In fulfilment of this order, the first thing the lay 
part of the Commissioners did, on their landing at Spey- 
mouth, was to write the following letter to the Magistrates 
of Aberdeen : — 

" Speymouth, 23d June (Suuday) 1650. 

" Worshipful and good friends, — We have directed these 
to let you know that the King is safely arrived, and intends, 
if God permits, to be at Aberdeen on Thursday at night. 
Therefore ye will take such care to provide such lodgings for 
him, and for the Commissioners, and for the train, as may 
be best had on so short advertisement. And we beseech you, 
let nothing be wanting which may testify your affection to 

3 



84 PERSONAL HISTORY OP CHARLES IT. 

the native King, who has fully assured all the desires of his 
people. No farther, but we are your very assured friends, 

" Oassilis. J. Brodie. J. Smith. 

" LoTHiANE. Geo. Wynram. Al. Jaffray." 

Charles could not have been more than two days at the 
Bog of Gicht. There is a tradition that, on his way from 
that citadel to Aberdeen, he stopped at Culsalmond, during 
the week of the annual fair which was held at that place, 
and that he slept at the mansion-house of Shulagreen in 
the neighbourhood, then belonging to one of the Gordons. 
Charles had sent a message to Leslie of Pitcaple, a few 
miles farther on, to intimate his purpose of dining with him 
next day ; and this gentleman, fearing that he might not 
have wine enough in his cellar for the numerous suite which 
he heard accompanied his Majesty, immediately bought up 
all the claret which was on sale at the fair, in anticipation 
of the demand that might be made on his hospitality. The 
remainder of the tradition is, that a ball was given to the 
King and his followers, on the lawn in front of Pitcaple 
House, under a large thorn tree, which is said to be still in 
existence. At some part of the entertainment, when the 
King was seated with the Duke of Buckingham on his right, 
and the Marquis of Argyll on his left hand, among the 
multitude of spectators, perched on the top of an adjoining 
dyke, was a female called the " Good Wife of Glack,'^ who, 
nothing daunted by the presence of so many important per- 
sonages, exclaimed with a shrill voice, " God bless your 
Majesty, and send you to your ain ; but they on your left 
hand, wha helped to tak off your father's head, if ye takna 
care, will tak aff yours neist." 

When Charles crossed the river Ury, on his departure 
from Pitcaple, he was much struck with the beauty and 
luxuriance of the crops, observing, that the scene reminded 
him of " dear England." The farm to which this remark 
was applied, soon after got the name of " England," and is, 
I am informed, so called to this day.^ 

The King arrived at Aberdeen on the day appointed, 

1 Parish of Chapel Garioch, Aberdeenshire. — New Statistical Account. 



JUNE 1G50. *So 

Thursday the 27th June, and was lodged in a merchant's 
house near the Tolbooth. The Provost, Robert Farquhar 
of Mounie (whom Charles knighted), and the Magistrates, 
entertained him with every mark of distinction, delivered 
to him the keys of their city, and defrayed all his expenses 
out of the public funds. They also made him a present of 
£1500 Scots; but the Parliament, when they heard of it, 
jealous of the power which such pecuniary gifts might con- 
fer upon him, sent an order to the other burghs through 
which he might pass, forbidding them to shew him any 
similar marks of their loyalty. 

Kennedy, in his Annals of Aberdeen, i. p. 227, gives the 
following entry of the King's expenses when at that city ; — 
" To gold and silver ribands, and other articles to the maiden, 
&ic. .£'129 : : 4 Scots." From this it has been supposed that 
the King had a mistress in his suite (and from hence an 
argument has been drawn for his profligate habits, even at 
this early period), and that this mistress could be no other 
than Lucy Walters, the mother of the Duke of Monmouth. 
But as we find no other allusion, except this very doubtful 
one, to such a personage in any contemporary authority, and 
as we may be quite sure that the rigid Covenanters would 
never have permitted a female of that description to be 
about the King, we are justified in concluding, that the 
word " maiden"" must have had reference to some other 
person ; and this person, in all probability, was a female 
who was a customary appendage to processions in honour 
of a Sovereign, and was meant to personate a guardian 
angel, a nymph, or a goddess of one of the virtues.^ Some 
writer has truly said, that the scandal about kings and 
queens is sure to float down the stream of history, when 
other and more durable matter passes by unheeded. 

But if Charles was gratified by the loyalty and generosity 
of the Aberdeen magistrates, he was shocked beyond mea- 
sure at the spectacle which here met his eyes, of the muti- 
lated leg and foot of his friend the brave Montrose, who 
had been executed by the Scots Covenanters about a month 

I At Charles the Second's Coronation, in 1661, several females, or " mai- 
dens," personated nymphs. 



ob PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

before, at Edinburgh, under circumstances of extreme bar- 
barity ; and his four limbs distributed to the same number 
of the chief towns in Scotland.^ This, one should have 
thought, might of itself have been enough to deter Charles 
from proceeding any further in a cause which, it was evident, 
could lead to no satisfactory conclusion. Even the very 
day of his arrival in Scotland, these same Covenanters had 
executed a Captain Charteris, another of his faithful ad- 
herents. And on the 25th, two days after his arrival, the 
Commission of the General Assembly of the Kirk shewed 
how they felt towards the King's friends, however they 
might affect to feel towards himself personally ; for they an- 
nounced, that " they who are tainted with malignancy and 
disaffection in the cause of God, should not be allowed or 
permitted to associate or join with us, or be used or em- 
ployed in our armies ; that we have solemnly engaged our- 
selves against this, and should be desperately perverse to 
hazard upon it ; that it were to give great encouragement 
to sectaries, to discourage the hearts, and weaken the hands 
of men of integrity and godliness, who could hardly expect 
a blessing in the following of such ; that it were [to depart] 
from the words of our own former confessions and engage- 
ments unto duties, and to proclaim judgment upon the land 
till it be consumed without remedy ; and that it were a shame 
for any in this land to be so faithless and unbelieving as, 
because of the scarceness of men, to make use of such." 
Most people, in the present times, will think that the " des- 
perate perverseness" was all on the side of those who could 
give utterance to such sentiments. 

But whatever were the feelings of the leaders in the Kirk 
and State towards the King, there can be no doubt that the 
people generally were extremely loyal. Nicoll tells us, " that 
as soon as the news of the King's arrival reached Edinburgh, 

^ The Aberdeen limb would seem to have been removed from its pinnacle 
at the time Charles was in the town, and buried in the church-yard. After 
the Restoration, it was taken up by order of the Magistrates, and put into a 
coffin covered with crimson velvet. After lying in state for some time in the 
town-house, it was delivered to Henry Graham of Morphie, for interment in 
the burial-place of the family. 



JUNE lO'oO. 37 

which was on the 26thi at night, all signs of joy were mani- 
fested through the whole kingdom, namely, and in a special 
manner at Edinburgh, by setting forth of hailfires^ ringing 
of bells, sounding of trumpets, and dancing almost all that 
night through the streets. The poor kail (vegetable) wives 
at the Trone sacrificed their maunds and creels, and the 
very stools they sat upon in the fire. After a great volley 
of muskets from the Castle, followed twenty-three great 
pieces of ordnance."' 2 

The Parliament at the same time deputed Commissioners 
to the King, two from each estate, to congratulate him on 
his arrival in Scotland, and to say how glad they were to 
hear that it had pleased God to move his heart to give satisfac- 
tion to their desires ; which must seem strange language to 
those who knew, as they could hardly fail to know, the real 
motives by which he was actuated. But they accompanied 
this mark of their civility w ith a peremptory order to dismiss 
from his presence, and send back to the Continent, with a 
very few exceptions, the noblemen and gentlemen who had 
come with him from Holland, for no other reason than 
because they were " malignants," or non-covenanters ; and 
some of whom had given special umbrage by their zealous 
exertions in favour of the late King. The only excepted per- 
sons were, the Duke of Buckingham, Dr Fraser, Mr Seymour, 
and Mr Rhodes. This exception in favour of the profligate 
though talented Buckingham, was disgraceful to those who 
permitted him to remain near the person of the King. " The 
Duke of Buckingham," says Burnet, " took all ways possible 
to gain Lord Argyll and the ministers ; only his dissolute 
course of life was excessive scandalous, which, to their great 
reproach, they connived at, because he advised the King to 
put himself wholly into their hands. The King was much 
offended that the Duke of Hamilton was put away from 
him ; but the Duke himself told him, that Argyll being 

1 So then it took four days for the news to travel from Aberdeen to Edin- 
burgh, which would go now in about the same number of hours. 

■^ Balfour's Auuals, sub anno. One of the " kail wives" who was thus jovial 
and loyal, is said to have been Janet Geddes, who, thirteen years before, threw 
the stool at the Dean of Edinburgh's head while in the act of reading the 
Litui*2v ! 



88 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

the person who could do him most service, or most injury, 
he advised him to use all lawful means to keep in favour 
with him ; adding, that he knew, when his Majesty's affairs 
were in a better posture, he would not forget his faithful 
servants. So the Duke was forced to retire to the Isle of 
Arran, where he stayed till the end of the following January ; 
nor could his petitions preva^il all that time for liberty to 
come and fight for his King and country, till the best half 
of Scotland was overrun by the enemy." i Lords Wilmot 
and Went worth, and Messrs Harden and Long, were per- 
mitted to remain in Scotland for the present, but were 
warned " not to come within the range of the Court, or to 
have access to his Majesty." As to the rest, though some 
of them petitioned to remain, for the sole purpose of looking 
after their private affairs, their petitions were rejected, and 
they were threatened with a prosecution for a contempt of 
Parhament in case of disobedience. There is, however, 
some obscurity as to this matter. A certain number of the 
King's followers seem to have left Scotland immediately ; 
but, from some unexplained cause, the stay of the others 
was connived at. How they disposed of themselves does 
not clearly appear. The Earl of Dunfermline must have 
been permitted to retire to his own house, as he received 
the King there in the following month. Mr Secretary Long 
lived at St Andrews ; while the Earl of Lauderdale and 
others found shelter among their friends, till there was a 
relaxation of the laws in favour of " malignants,'' when they 
were enabled to rejoin their master. Among those who 
remained was Sir Edward Walker, Garter-King-at-arms, 
who has left us a narrative of what occurred down to the 
month of October in this year, at which time the Covenan- 
ters compelled him, and most of the others, to withdraw to 
the Continent. 

The session of the existing Parhament closed on the 4th 
of July ; but, before adjourning, they nominated a " Com- 
mittee of Estates,"' to carry on the government till next 
session should commence, which was not to be till the 28th 
November following. And as the term " Commission" will 

' Burnet's Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton, p. 423. 



JUNE 1650. 39 

frequently occur in this narrative, it may be necessary to say 
here, that it means the Commission of the General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland. The Assembly itself 
met only once a year, and that for about ten days ; but its 
Commissioners, who consisted of but a few ministers and 
elders, met as often as circumstances required; and possessed 
at this time almost unlimited authority in matters ecclesias- 
tical, and no small authority in matters civil also, through 
the medium of its lay elders. The most influential person, 
both in Kirk and State, at the time now under review, was 
the Marquis of Argyll ; for being a member of the Com- 
mittee of Estates by virtue of his rank, and also a member 
of the Commission as an elder, he and his party enjoyed 
extraordinary powers ; and the rule of their conduct towards 
the King was to shew every mark of respect to his person, 
but to heap every indignity on his favourites and followers, 
with the few exceptions just mentioned. They were desirous 
of getting him exclusively into their own hands, that they 
might mould him to their will. They waited on him with 
the formalities used to princes, and provided him with a 
well served table, good horses and servants ; but for many 
months they excluded him from their counsels, and treated 
him little better than a state prisoner. Thus, on the 5th 
July, they proclaimed him at the Cross of Edinburgh, King 
of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, with the cus- 
tomar}' ceremonies ;i but they, at the same time, surrounded 
him with the most rigid Covenanters, whose business it was 
to report upon his actions, and instil into him, if possible, 
their peculiar tenets. They also appointed a body-guard 
of cavalry to attend him, under the command of the Earl 
of Eglinton ; and one of infantry under the command of 
Lord Lome, Argyll's eldest son, and also of Colonel James 
Wallace, afterwards the insurgent leader at the Pentland 
Hills ; which officers had strict orders, under the show of 

1 He had been proclaimed before, immediately after his father's murder, 
conditionally, however, on his taking the Covenants ; but it was afterwards 
objected by the ultra-covenanters that this had been done " without setting 
any time apart to seek the Lord for counsel and direction therein ;" as if they 
expected a miraculous interposition to inform them whether they were to 
proclaim the King or not ! 



40 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

doing him honour, to keep a strict watch over his person. 
The inscription on the standard of his body-guard was 
" Covenant, Religion, King, and Country." In the following 
year, there is a petition to ParHament from Lord Lome, 
that the foot-guard may receive one recruit out of each in- 
fantry regiment, thus making them 1200 strong ; and also 
that " they may all have coats of one colour." 

Great difficulty was experienced in raising of a suitable 
revenue for the King and his household. A Committee was 
appointed to inquire into the state of what had been the 
Crown revenues ; the list of pensions was strictly examined, 
and those which did not appear well deserved were recalled ; 
and, if I understand Balfour rightly, a monthly allowance 
of <£^9000 sterling was settled on the royal establishment.^ 
The Marquis of Argyll was Master and Treasurer of the 
Household, and often complained of the difficulty of raising 
funds to defray the King's necessary expenses. Even so 
late as March in the following year, we find him laying 
before Parliament " the case and condition of his Majesty's 
household through the want of money ;" and lamenting that^ 
notwithstanding his frequent representations, nothing had 
been done to remedy this grievance. It was then proposed 
to impose a poll-tax upon all persons above seven years of 
age within the realm, for this exclusive purpose ; but as 
the country was already overburthened with taxation, it is 
doubtful if this tax was ever attempted to be raised. In 
fact, the country never was in a more oppressed and impo- 
verished condition than at this time, owing to the exactions 
of the English wherever they quartered themselves, and the 
equally oppressive exactions which the Scottish soldiery were 
themselves compelled to levy for their necessary support. 

But we must now return, and follow the King's route from 
Aberdeen, where, as already observed, he had been at once 
gratified by the civilities of the Magistrates, and distressed 
by the sight of the mangled remains of his friend Montrose, 
publicly displayed on the Tolbooth. At Aberdeen he 
stayed only one night, and then proceeded to Dunottar, near 

1 Balfour's Ann. iv. pp. 71,79. The Thurlow State Papers say that the ancient 
revenue of the Scottish Kings had been reduced at this time to £17,610 : 18 : 8. 



JUNE 1650. 41 

Stonehaven, now a ruin, but at that time a strong castle 
on the sea-shore, belonging to the Earl Marischall. There 
he remained the next night, which was Friday the 28th 
June. He then proceeded to Kinnaird House, the seat of 
the Earl of Southesk, where he remained all Saturday and 
Sunday. On Monday he went to the house of Viscount 
Dudhope (afterwards Earl of Dundee), near Dundee, where 
he was hospitably entertained, as well by that nobleman as 
by the Provost and burgesses of the town. Here he met 
once more his shipmate Livingstone, who took upon himself, 
in virtue, I suppose, of having been one of his advisers at 
Breda, to give his Majesty a piece of advice, which we will 
allow him to describe in his own simple, though not very 
accurate language. " After I had spoke some things anent 
his carriage, I proponed that he saw the English army, 
animated with many victories, was, for his sake, coming 
in upon Scotland, which at present was in a very low con- 
dition; and, therefore, that his Majesty with his Councill 
might advise some way to divert that present chock, by some 
declaration, or some way wherein he needed not any way quite 
or weaken his right to the Crown of England, but only to 
shew that, for the present, he was not to prosecute his title 
by the sword, but wait till their confusions were evanished, 
they were in better case to be governed ; and till he were 
called by the people there, which, I was confident, a short 
whiles good government in Scotland would easily produce. 
He was not pleased to relish the motion, but said he hoped 
I would not wish him to sell his father s blood. By that, 
and some other passages of my life, I gathered that either 
I was not called to meddle in any publick state matters, or 
that my meddling should have small success."" This was 
certainly a very wise conclusion on the part of Mr Living- 
stone, but it is a pity he did not arrive at it sooner. This 
minister shortly after retired from the field of politics, severely 
accusing himself of having had a hand in bringing the King 
to Scotland, to which he ascribed all the blood that was 
shed in the war that followed. After the Restoration, for 
nonconformity, and for refusing to take the oath of alle- 
giance, he was banished to H olland, where he died in 1672. 



42 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

After a stay of three days at Dudhope Castle, Charles 
crossed the Tay, and went to St Andrews on the 4th July. 
When he arrived at the West Port of this City, the silver 
keys were delivered to him by the Provost, and he was 
welcomed by Mr Andrew Honeyman, one of the ministers 
of the parish. When he came opposite the gate of St Mary''s 
College, Principal Rutherford made a Latin oration to him, 
" running much," says Lamont, " on the duties of kings;" 
telling him that if he kept not the Covenants, it was all over 
with him and his kingdom. It would have been much more 
to the purpose, if some one had read this reverend gentle- 
man a homily " on the duties of subjects." His Majesty 
lodged in a house which had belonged to Hugh Scrimgeour, 
" near the Abbey," probably the same in which his great- 
grand-mother. Queen Mary, had lived eighty-seven years 
before. On the same day, Mr Robert Blair (who had not 
long before assisted at the judicial murder of the King's 
best friends in this very city of St Andrews, namely. Sir 
Robert Spotswood, Colonel Gordon, Captain Guthrie, and 
the Honourable Mr Murray), preached a sermon before him 
from Ps. XX. 1, 2, 8, and 4. When it was over, Charles 
paid a visit to the preacher at his own house, knowing it to 
be of the utmost importance to his cause to conciliate the 
minsters. As soon as he had entered the room, Mrs Blair 
ran to offer him a chair, " My heart," said her husband, 
" he is a young man, and can help himself," — a good 
specimen of the much vaunted loyalty of the Covenanting 
ministers !^ 

" On the 6th July," says Lamont, " leaving St Andrews, 
the King came to Cupar, where he got some desert to his 
four-hours.2 The place where he sat down to eat was the 
Tolbooth. The town had appointed Mr Andrew Anderson, 
schoolmaster there for the time, to give him a music song 
or two while he was at table. Mr David Douglas had ane 
speech to him at his entry to the town. After this, he 

^ This anecdote has been told of the Rev. James Guthrie of Stirling, as well 
as of Blair. 

* A meal between dinner and supper, so named from the hour at which it 
Was taken. 



JULY 1650. 43 

went to Falkland all night. At this time the most part of 
the gentlemen of the shire did go along with him. The 
time that he abode at Falkland, he went down one day and 
dined at the Earl of Wemyss' house, and another at Lesley, 
with the Earl of Rothes." Here also he was waited upon 
by the Marquis of Argyll, the Earls of Buccleugh and 
Wemyss, Sir A. Johnstone, and Sir John Chiesley, besides 
the ministers Dickson, Durham, and Guthrie. 

" On the 7th of this month,'" says the same authority, 
" was a Fast appointed by the Commission of the Greneral 
Assembly, the chief causes of which were, the threatening 
Sectarian army of English — the abounding of sorcery — and 
that the Lord would countenance the following Annual 
General Assembly." 

The Assembly here alluded to met at Edinburgh on the 
10th, under the Moderatorship of Andrew Cant, and ex- 
tended its sittings to the 24th ; but no official record of its 
proceedings has been preserved, and very little has been 
gleaned from other sources. The King addressed to them 
'' a very kind and loving letter."*' They sent three ministers 
to congratulate him on his coming among them, and they 
appointed Mr Robert Blair as his permanent chaplain ; but 
as he was at this time unwell, they deputed two to minister 
to him and his household in the interval, namely, Messrs 
Moncrieff, and MackgilL At this Assembly the clerical com- 
missioners Livingstone and Hutchinson, were called on to 
relate the whole proceedings of the treaty of Breda ; but as 
it was thought advisable to keep matters quiet for the pre- 
sent, they were recommended, at a previous pn-y^^^ meeting 
of the ministers, to suppress every thing " that might make 
the King or his way odious on the entry of his government," 
particularly the kneeling at the communion, which they 
did accordingly ; and thus the whole treaty w^as approved, 
and the Commissioners thanked for their " great pains, 
fidelity, and constancy."^ It is also stated, that at this 
Assembly the Duke of Hamilton, and the Earls of Crawford 
and Lauderdale, were desirous of becoming reconciled to 
the Kirk, by declaring their sorrow for the late " unlawful 

2 Life of Robert Blair, p. 231 . 



44 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

engagement"' in favour of Charles I. But their cases were 
referred to the Assembly's Commission. The only other 
act of this Assembly, that we know of, is, that they solemnly 
warned the State against employing any " who are tainted 
with malignancy," in opposing the English army then pre- 
paring to invade Scotland under Greneral Cromwell. We 
shall see the consequences of this advice when we come to 
the battle of Dunbar. 

Now that we have brought Charles in safety to his palace 
of Falkland, it may be curious to return to the Continent, 
and see how his friends there were wTiting concerning him. 
The following extracts of letters from the celebrated poet 
Cowley to Mr Henry Bennet (afterwards Earl of Arlington, 
and Charles's principal Secretary of State), may be thought 
interesting :^ — 

" Paris, June 20th. — I hear from Calais that the King 
embarked at Sheveling the 10th of this month, and had a 
fair wind for his voyage to Scotland ; but my Lord Byron's 
not arriving here yet (who was to be dispatched immediately 
on the King's parting), makes us have some doubts of this 
intelligence ; and there is lately information come from 
Scotland, which, if it meet the King before his landing 
there, may possibly have altered his resolution. We have 
been often troubled to understand the Scots' motions, they 
are so obscure and so irregular ; but they never did any- 
thing more unsearchable than one proceeding of theirs since 
the treaty ; and that is, that they have banished my Lord 
Duke Hamilton, Lord Lauderdale, and others, without any 
intimation of such an intent during the treaty ; and my Lord 
Callender, arriving at the Forth some few days since, was 
not suffered to land, but sent back immediately to Holland. 
Some say he is one of the banished persons, which yet 
renders the business more mystical.^ In fine, nothing but 

1 See Brown's Miscellanea Aulica. Before the death of Charles I., Cowley's 
occupation at Paris was to cypher anddecypher the lettei-s which passed be- 
tween him and his Queen. 

2 The Duke of Hamilton, and the Earls of Lauderdale and Callender, be- 
sides others, had been forbidden, by an act of the Scottish Parhament of the 
18th May, to return " from beyond seas, until they gave satisfaction to the 
Church and State." — Balfour's Annals, iv. p, 14. This news, it would seem, had 



JULY 1G50. 45 

time can explain this ; and he that will undertake to com- 
prehend these men's actions, and reconcile them with them- 
selves, and with their professions, tlie next task I would 
set him upon, should be to write a Commentary on the 
Revelations,"" &;c. 

'• Paris, July 9. — It is now 28 days since the King em- 
barked, and yet we hear nothing of or from him, but uncer- 
tain and contrary reports, of which the most probable seems 
to be that of his landing in Orkney ; for he bore up towards 
Norway, and if his voyage had been shorter, we should 
undoubtedly have heard sooner of him. It is hard to say 
what kind of reception he w^ill find. This is evident, that 
the Scots will endeavour to defer the war with England as 
long as they can ; and, if that be not possible, to manage it 
only by presbyterian hands, if that be possible too, which I 
hope it will not, when once they are engaged in it, and shall 
be nearer prest by their fears of ruin than by their hopes of 
an incommunicable victory,"" &c. 

" Paris, July 16. — It is a wonderful thing that now after 
six weeks that the King is parted, we have no certain news 
of him. Some report that he landed at Orkney, others at 
Edinburgh, and others (which is the lastest information) at 
Spey, near Aberdeen ; that, being pursued by the Parlia- 
ment ships, he put himself and most of his company into 
three fishermen boats, and so got thither ; whilst his own 
ships were still followed by the English, who knew not that 
he had quitted them. This relation was brought here by a 
Dutch gentleman, who had it later than the last written 
letters from Holland, so that it cannot yet be confuted 
though it should be false,"'"' &c. 

After what wo have already seen in the Introduction re- 
garding the King's landing at Speymouth, it is unecessary 
to add that these rumours were almost wholly unfounded. 

The next letter is of July 23d, but it contains merely 

not reached Holland till after Charles and his suite had embarked. Lord 
Callender preceded the Kinii^ to Scotland, and had landed, but was obliged to 
re-embark after a few days, and leave the country. —Ibid. p. 25. Well might 
this conduct on the part of the Scottish Parliament to the King's best fx-iends, 
appear to Mr Cowley « obscure, irregular, and unsearchable." 



46 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

some speculations on the probable result of the war between 
England and Scotland. The one following is dated August 
6th, in which Mr Cowley says, — " I cannot tell you in what 
condition the King is in Scotland, for though undoubtedly 
he has been received with all public significations and 
welcome, yet there is a villainous report flies about of the 
commanding all his old servants that waited upon him 
thither, to leave the kingdom, or at least the court ; but 
we have nothing from authentic hands, nor can I tell you 
in what condition Scotland is for the defence of him and 
itself; nor whether Cromwell be yet advanced as far as 
Berwick ; nor what the Presbyterians and the King's old 
party are like to do upon this great opportunity in several 
parts of England, of which we are bidden to hope all, but 
must do it yet very implicitly."' The next letter is dated 
August 18th, in which he writes, — " We have at last some 
letters from the King's company. Never-faihng Mr Boswell 
is arrived from Holland, and has sent them to us. He him- 
self is by this time, I suppose, gone back to the King. 
They import that he is most affectionately received by the 
whole nation ; that they are united as one man in his and 
their own defence, and have already raised very consi- 
derable numbers, a part of which, as Mr Boswell reports 
(at least 16,000 horse and foot, which is more than Cromwell 
carries against them) are encamped at Dunse, and had, 
before he came away (which was on the 15th of last month 
from Falkland), taken three troops of English horse, and 
expected daily to see the whole English army ; so that 
without doubt, there has been much action before this 
time ; and we have flying reports here of losses and revolts 
from Cromwell, but I dare not yet bite at them. One 
thing our letters bring (which though it be inevitable, is to 
be looked upon as most ill news), is the proceeding of the 
Scots against the English that waited upon the King thither, 
the particulars of which you will find in the enclosed list of 
names. Whether this be a bigotry of the ministers, or a 
jealousy of the King's old party, or a pure enmity and 
animosity against us, I know not ; but sure I am that it 
will make the work infinitely more hazardous, and even if 



JULY 1650. 47 

they should prevail, less advantageous to the King and all 
his friends," &;c. But we must suspend these extracts for 
the present, and give one or two more of them when we 
are farther advanced in our history. 

I have already hinted at the rigid treatment to which the 
King was subjected, and this may be the proper time to say 
a Httle more on that subject. " The Presbyterian ministers," 
says Clarendon, " were in such a continual attendance about 
him, that he was never free from their importunities, under 
pretence of instructing him in their religion ; and so they 
obliged him to their constant hours of long prayers, and 
made him observe the Sundays with more rigour than the 
Jews were accustomed to do their Sabbaths ; and repre- 
hended him very sharply if he smiled on those days, and if 
his looks and gestures did not please them ; whilst all their 
prayers and sermons, at which he was compelled to be pre- 
sent, were libels and bitter invectives against all the actions 
of his father, the idolatry of his mother, and his own 
malignity." Bishop Burnet gives his personal testimony 
to the same effect : — " The King," he says, " wrought him- 
self into as grave a deportment as he could ; he heard many 
prayers and sermons, some of great length. I remember 
one Fast-day, there imre six sermons ^readied without inter- 
ru]ption. I was there myself,^ and not a little weary of so 
tedious a service. The King was not allowed so much as 
to walk abroad on Sundays ; and if at any time there had 
been any gaiety, such as dancing, or playing at cards, he 
was severely reproved for it. This was arranged with so 
much rigour, and so little discretion, that it contributed not 
a little to leget in him an aversion to all sort of strictness in 
religion.'''' These zealots might have known that extreme 
relaxation is the natural effect of extreme restraint, and 

1 It is to be observed, however, that at this time Burnet was scarcely eight 
years old. Matters seem to have been much in the same state in England 
at this time. The author of Philip Henry's Life, says, that " he attended 
constantly upon the monthly fasts at St Margaret's (Westminster), where 
some of England's best and ablest ministers preached before the then House 
of Commons ; and the service of the day was carried on with great strictness 
and solemnity, /row eight in the morning till four in the evening.^' 



48 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

that a period of constrained hypocrisy is commonly followed 
by a period of unbridled indulgence. 

What must have made the matter doubly disagreeable 
to the King, was the custom, then prevalent among preachers, 
of dividing a sermon into a multitude of heads, and each of 
these again into several divisions and subdivisions ; so that 
not only would the one sermon tend to drive the other out 
of the hearers head, but even the numerous divisions of 
the same sermon could scarcely fail to bewilder him. Per- 
haps the ministers meant these inflictions as a penance for 
his sins and those of his forefathers, and a very irksome 
penance it must have been. And what made it more so, 
was their representing these sins as the chief cause of the 
calamities which had befallen their country, though in truth 
they would have been nearer the mark had they ascribed 
them to their own infatuation and rebellion. 

Sir Walter Scott, in his " Tales of a Grandfather,^"* 
tells the following anecdote of the King, which probably 
occurred at this time : — 

" It is said that, on one occasion, a devout lady who lived 
opposite to the royal lodgings, saw from her window the 
young King engaged in a game at cards, or some other 
frivolous amusement,^ which the rigour of the Covenanters 
denounced as sinful. The lady communicated this im- 
portant discovery to her minister, and it reached the ears of 
the Commission of the Kirk, who named a venerable member 
of their body to rebuke the monarch personally for this act 
of backsliding. The clergyman to whom this delicate 
commission was entrusted was a shrewd old man, who saw 
no great wisdom in the proceedings of his brethren, but 
executed their commission with courtly dexterity, and sum- 
med up his ghostly admonition with a request that, when his 
Majesty indulged in similar recreations, he would be pleased 
to take the precaution of shutting the windows. The King 
laughed, and was glad to escape so well from the appre- 
hended lecture." 

Many similar scenes must have occurred, had the re- 

^ See a less delicate version of this story, in the " Memoirs of Sir Ewen 
Cameron,'" p. 91. 



JULY 1650. 49 

membrance of them been preserved. It is said that, in after 
life, Charles was so fond of relating his adventures in Scot- 
land, and anecdotes of presbyterian rigidity, that he would 
repeat them many times to the same persons, thinking, 
perhaps, that a good story was not the worse of being 
several times told, and knowing that his hearers were gene- 
rally too well bred to shew symptoms of impatience. The 
witty Earl of Rochester, however, who had no fears of 
offending him, told him one day, that " he wondered to see 
one have so good a memory as to repeat the same anecdote 
without omitting the least circumstance, and yet not re- 
member that he had told it to the very same persons the 
day before !*" 

Little occurred at Falkland during the King's stay there, 
except that many of the nobility and gentry paid their 
respects to him. None, however, except those who had 
subscribed the Covenants, were permitted to have any private 
conversation with him, but were compelled to withdraw 
immediately after kissing his hand. Among those who 
presented themselves was the Earl of Carnwath, who had 
lately returned from Holland. He was told by the Marquis 
of Argyll that it was great presumption in him to come 
thither, being in his condition.^ The Earl went to the King, 
and told him that it was evident that " friends must part, 
and hoped he had none about him less faithful than him- 
self.'" Then turning to Argyll, he said, — " This is your 
doing, but I value it not.'' Shortly afterwards, in the royal 
presence, he appealed to the Earl of Cassillis, who was 
standing on the one side of the " Cloth of State," while 
Johnston of Warriston and Sir John Ohiesley were on the 
other side. The Rev. James Wood who was present, beckon- 
ed to the Earl to leave the apartment, with which command 
he complied, first saying to Wood, " Sir, God, T hope, will 
forgive me, will not you?" But Wood turned from him in 
a contemptuous manner, and made no reply. The Earl 
immediately departed, though not before Johnston and 
Chiesley had sent orders to Sir James Balfour, Lyon-King- 

* The existing " Act of Classes," rendered him incapable of serving his 
Majesty, because he had been a pai'ty to the " Engagement." 

4 



50 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

at- Arms, " to take and hang him presently, unless he went 
from the Court." The Earl was soon afterwards committed 
a prisoner to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh ; but he was not 
long there, as he next year accompanied the King into 
England, and fell into the hands of Cromwell after the 
battle of Worcester. 

Though the Covenanters had permitted the Duke of 
Hamilton, and some others of the King's personal friends, 
to remain for the present in Scotland, not only did they 
keep them at a distance from the Court, but they exercised 
a constant watch over their behaviour, and, it would appear, 
subjected them to great inconveniences. The following 
private letter from the King to the l)uke, exhibits much 
sympathy and disinterestedness in the former, shewing that 
he was more concerned about his friends' sufferings than 
his own. — 

" My Lord Hamilton, I am sure there is no body that is 
more concerned with the rigidness of this Kirk and State 
towards you than T am ; and I desire you to let me know 
if I can do any thing that can take off their cruelty, either 
by writing, or by any way else. Pray let all your friends 
know how sensible I am of their sufferings, knowing it 
is only for my sake, and that I am very much grieved that 
I am not in a better condition to let them see it ; but I 
hope mine will mend, and then I am sure theirs shall be 
better. The Doctor has acquainted me with the business 
concerning Sir J. Scot. I do assure you I will do nothing 
in it, but what you shall direct me in ; in this, and in all 
things else, you shall ever find me to be, your most affec- 
tionate friend, 

" Charles R." i 

« Falkland, July 17." 

It is the policy, or the prejudice, of certain writers of the 
present day, to represent Charles as at this time dissipated 
and depraved. Thus, one of them speaks of his " loose, licen- 
tious habits, and depraved heart," and that " nothing was to 
be expected from him but duplicity and gross licentiousness." 

1 See the Letters annexed to Dalrymple's Account of Charles II.'s escape 
from Worcester. 8vo, 1766". 



JULY 1650. 51 

Another writer of the same school says, that " the Scottish 
Commissioners brought him from amidst the debaucheries 
in which he was indulging at Breda, to replace him on the 
throne of his fathers."" And I am sorry to find so respectable 
an author as Sir Walter Scott, in his " Woodstock," giving 
countenance to this notion ; which, however it might suit 
his purpose as a novelist, is just as unfounded in fact, as 
that Charles was ever near Wookstock at all, in his flight 
from Worcester. Of the King's " duplicity" I have already 
spoken, and may again speak in the course of this narrative, 
— a duplicity of which the Covenanters were more the 
authors and promoters than Charles himself; but I main- 
tain that there is no good ground for accusing him, previous 
to and during his stay in Scotland, of that " licentiousness" 
into which, it is admitted, he fell subsequently. We have 
seen that Livingstone speaks of " his courteous and tractable 
disposition" while at Breda. Principal Baillie, himself a 
Covenanter and a contemporary, thus speaks of him just be- 
fore he finally quitted Scotland : — " Alas ! that so good a 
King should have come among us to be destroyed by our 
own hands, most by traitors and dividers." And the noble- 
minded Earl of Derby, who knew Charles well, was with 
him at Worcester, and was executed for his loyalty on the 
very day that he made his escape from England, said of 
him, in his dying speech at Bolton, that he was " the most 
goodly, virtuous, valiant, and most discreet King that I 
know lives this day." No doubt he loved music and dancing ; 
and moreover, at this time he was the father of an illegiti- 
mate son, whom he afterwards created Duke of Monmouth ; 
but was that a sufiicient reason for calling him licentious, 
dissipated, and depraved ? There is in truth, good evidence 
that, though not making the same pretensions that they 
did who were appointed to be spies upon his conduct, he 
was, at the time we are reviewing, every whit as good as 
themselves. Nay, there is ground for believing, that the 
spurious system of religion which he daily witnessed in those 
around him, generated that disgust of puritanical precision 
which in after life led, as it too often does, to the opposite 
extreme of laxity and indulgence. 



52 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

Meanwhile, the Enghsh regarded the treaty of Breda, 
and the proclamation by the Scots of Charles 11. , to be 
sovereign of the United Kingdom, as equivalent to a decla- 
ration of war against themselves, and accordingly began to 
prepare for invading Scotland. The two nations had been 
bound by a mutual compact not to make war upon each 
other, without a three months warning; but the English 
considered the conduct of the Scots as a violation of this 
compact, and therefore paid no attention to the remon- 
strances which were addressed to them by the latter. They 
each accused the other of violating the terms of the Solemn 
League and Covenant. The English were charged with 
renouncing monarchy, and embracing sectarianism, thus 
acting " against the Word of Grod, and the example of the 
best reformed Churches ;" while the Scots were accused of 
espousing the cause of their " malignant'' King. The 
English arguedj consistently enough, that since the existing 
Scots government had punished all who joined the Duke of 
Hamilton, two years before, in his " engagement" to defend 
Charles I., and had more recently treated Montrose and 
his followers with still greater cruelty for a similar offence, 
so now it was equally bound to oppose and punish all who 
should uphold the like pretensions ; instead of which, it 
was using every effort to advance those pretensions, and 
even proposing to place the Crown of the United Kingdom 
on Charles II.'s head. They moreover accused the Scots 
of an intention to introduce Presbyterianism into England, 
which, there can be no doubt, the latter wished and intended 
to do, if they possibly could. 

Both sides, therefore, prepared for war. Cromwell, re- 
cently returned from the conquest of Ireland, was appointed 
Generalissimo of the army destined for the invasion of 
Scotland. He left London on the 29th of June. At York, 
he and his chief officers were sumptuously entertained by 
the Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs. At Durham, Sir Arthur 
Haselrigg, the Governor of Newcastle, met him and accom- 
panied him to the latter town, which they entered on the 
15th July. Here SbFast was held to implore divine success 
on the Scottish campaign; onwhichoccasion, " there preached 



JULY 1650. 53 

• 

Mr Good and four other ministers, who performed the duty 
of their places with great moderation and sw^eet temper, 
loeTy hea'cenly^ in relation to the present expedition of the 
army for Scotland." A letter of the 17th July from the 
same quarter, states, the whole English army at 23;000, 
and the Scotch at 27,000 foot, and 5000 horse. The letter 
then goes on thus : — " The (Scotch) ministers are now as 
active in military discipline as they formerly w^ere in the 
gospel profession. Parson Ennis, Parson Brown, and about 
thirty other ministers, having received commissions to be 
majors and captains, now hold forth the Bible in the one 
hand, and the sw^ord in the other, telling the soldiery that 
they need not fear what man can do against them ; that 
God is on their side, and that he hath prepared an engine 
in heaven to break and blast the designs of all covenant- 
breakers on earth." ^ From Newcastle also, there issued a 
public document, entitled, " A declaration of the Army of 
England upon their march into Scotland, to all that are 
saints and partakers of the faith in Scotland," — an address 
in the apostolical style, but surely delivered on a most un- 
apostolic occasion, by an army marching to fight against 
their lawful King ; of whom, whatever they might say of his 
father, they could not, and did not, allege that he had done 
any thing to forfeit their allegiance. The declaration sets 
forth the reasons for bringing the late King to justice^ — for 
excluding his heirs from the throne, — for abolishing a 
House of Lords, — and erecting the kingdom into a Com- 
monwealth. It represents the royal party as under the 
influence of " Popish counsels," and finishes by promising- 
protection to all Scotsmen who should remain quietly in 
their ow^n houses, and ofifer no resistance to the English 
army. General Monk followed Cromwell into Scotland 
next month, with the regiment which was afterwards de- 
signated the Coldstream Guards, and consisted of ten com- 
panies drafted out of the regiments of Colonels Haselrigg 
and Fenwick. 

Both parties appealed to Heaven on this occasion. The 
Scottish presbytery records contain various entries, exhort- 

^ Croniwelliana, pp. 82, 83. 



54 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

ing their people " to unite in solemn prayer to God for a 
blessing to the undertakings of this Kirk and kingdom 
against the unwarrantable invasion of the present Sectarian 
enemy, who hath perfidiously forsaken the Covenant and 
oath of God." The ministers followed this up, by contri- 
buting funds to raise a regiment of horse, which they put 
under the command of Colonel Strachan, and subsequently 
by promoting a voluntary loan or gift, in defence of their 
country. 

On the 22d July, the English army planted their feet on 
Scottish ground, giving utterance, at the moment of so 
doing, to a vehement shout, to indicate the enthusiasm with 
which they entered on a campaign calculated, as they said, 
'■'' to extend the reign of the saints upon earth." It would 
appear that Cromwell actually applied to himself, at this 
time and previously, the language of the ex. Psalm, and 
justified himself for the murder of the King, and the in- 
vasion of Ireland and Scotland, by the prophesies there 
delivered ! ^ He imagined that he was appointed to strike 
through Kings in the day of his wrath, and that he was to 
rule over his enemies, who were to be made his footstool. 
On the north side of the Tweed, he found all the country 
deserted by its inhabitants, who, as many of them as could, 
had removed themselves and their goods across the Forth, 
in obedience to the commands of their government, dread- 
ing that Cromwell would inflict on them the same cruelties 
which he had recently inflicted on the Irish. No person, 
as we are told, was to be seen but " Scotch women, pitiful 
creatures, clothed in white flannel in a very homely manner." 
At Mordington, there being neither cup nor glass, nor 
cooking utensil of any kind to be found, the soldiers were 
compelled to make porridge pots of their helmets, and 
dripping pans of breast-plates. 

General David Lesley, who had defeated Montrose at 
Philiphaugh (and to whom, for this reason, the Kirk and 
State could never be sufficiently thankful), was made General 
of the Covenanting army, under the old Earl of Leven, 
whose command was merely nominal. The larger counties 
^ Thomas Cromwell's Life of Oliver Cromwell, p. 256. 



JULY 1650. 55 

were required each to raise two regiments of foot, with a 
proportion of horse, while two of the smaller counties united 
were to supply one between them ; and all men capable of 
bearing arms between the ages of sixteen and sixty were 
rendered liable to be enlisted. Those who could not furnish 
men or horses, were required to pay for a man 100 merks 
{£5 : 8 : 4), and 200 merks for a man and a horse. Within 
a specified time, they were to be ready to march to a place 
agreed upon within their respective counties, and from thence 
to proceed to the head- quarters of the army. These head- 
quarters were fixed at Edinburgh and Leith; and Lesley 
proceeded forthwith to occupy and strengthen, by artificial 
means, positions which nature had already fitted for defence. 
Edinburgh Castle protected his left wing, Leith was regu- 
larly fortified as a covering for his right ; and a deep trench 
extended from the one to the other as a defence for his 
centre ; the river Forth protected his rear, while Arthur's 
Seat, Salisbury Craigs, and the Calton Hill, served as his 
outposts. Cromwell, equally on the alert, brought up his 
army to Musselburgh, Duddingstone, and Corstorphine, 
villages immediately in front of the Scottish line ; while 
the ships containing his supplies sailed up the Firth of 
Forth, to be near him, and which the Scots could not 
oppose, from their being at this time, through a culpable 
negligence, totally unprovided with ships of their own. 
" Wherever he came,"" says Sir James Balfour, " he made 
stables of all the churches for his horses, and burned all 
the seats and pews in them, rifled the minister s houses, and 
destroyed their corns." 

Certain modern writers have recently discovered that 
Cromwell was a " saint," as well as a " hero," a " truly Chris- 
tian man," " prudent," and " enlightened," " in advance of 
his age," and, in short, a totally different character to what 
general history has hitherto represented him, though they 
do not pretend to have discovered any new facts in support 
of their new opinions ; and Dr Thomas M'Crie, in his new 
edition of Blair s Life, is mightily shocked to find the 
biographer of that divine calling Cromwell an old /ox ! I will 
not call him a " blasphemer," with the Scottish Covenanters, 



56 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

nor a " hypocrite'' with others ; for I believe that he was, 
at the commencement of his career at least, too much of a 
religious enthusiast to be either. But, passing over his 
treatment of Charles I., what are we to say to his taking 
up arms against Charles II., his undoubtedly rightful King ? 
and against his neighbours the Scots, for no other reason 
than that they had espoused the royal cause? No apology 
can extenuate that which all laws, human and divine, have 
pronounced to be a crime. If Cromwell was a " truly 
Christian man,"" then is Christianity compatible with regici- 
dism and rebellion, and unprovoked war, and with the 
massacre of entire garrisons and inhabitants of towns which 
had surrendered at discretion (the conqueror ascribing his 
cruel conduct to the inspiration of God's Spirit, and the 
manifest interpositions of Divine Providence in his favour),' 
— compatible, too, with the converting of churches into 
stables, and the selling of thousands of royalist prisoners to 
work as slaves in tropical plantations. But if we shrink 
from this conclusion, then, I think, we have no other alter- 
native than to view Cromwell's character as affording one 
of the many melancholy illustrations of the great Scriptural 
truth, that " the heart is deceitful above all things, and 
desperately wicked." Of this we shall have further proofs 
in the sequel. The Irish butcheries were, no doubt, com- 
mitted with the design of suppressing a false, and promoting 
the true, religion ; but the same apology might be made 
for the tortures of the Inquisition, and the massacre of St 
Bartholomew. In short, Cromwell was one of those men 
who, when they are forced to admit that it is unjustifiable in 
them to revenge their own wrongs, real or supposed, plead 
that the case is quite different when they are called on, as they 
think, to revenge God''s wrongs ; assuming themselves to be 
correct judges of what really are God's wrongs — not aware 
how much their private resentments mingle with their reli- 
gious zeal — and forgetting, besides, the doctrine of Holy 
Scripture on this point, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, 
saith the Lord." 

The King, as I said before, had been passing some weeks 

^ Cromwell's Own Letters from Ireland, passm. 



JULY 1650. 57 

at his own palace of Falkland. On the 2od July, he went 
to Perth, where he was hospitably entertained by the Pro- 
vost and Magistrates, who were clothed in mourning, in 
compliment, it is supposed, to his father's memory. To his 
Majesty the Provost presented the freedom of the town 
upon his knees, and also bestowed the same honour on the 
Duke of Buckingham who accompanied him ; while Mr 
George Haliburton, one of the ministers of the place (after- 
wards Bishop of Dunkeld), delivered to the King a congra- 
tulatory address. These ceremonies took place, we are 
told, " at General David Leslie's residence, in the garden- 
house, on the river [Tay], w^here was a table covered with 
dessert of all kinds." At the request of Sir James Balfour, 
the Lyon-King, w^ho was present, Charles acknowledged 
the compliments which had been paid him, by writing in 
the town records, in the list of burgesses, where it may still 
be seen, his signature and motto thus, — 
Charles R. 
Nemo me impune lacessit.^ 
Next day he proceeded to Dunfermline, and on the way 
he paid a visit at Burleigh Castle, the seat of Mr Robert 
Arnott, by whom he was entertained. This Arnott had 
married the daughter and heiress of the late Lord Balfour 
of Burleigh, and assumed the title of that peer in her right. 
At Dunfermline, the Earl of that name entertained the 
King and his suite. Here Miss Anne Murray, daughter of 
Mr Robert Murray of TuUibardine (preceptor to Charles I., 
and afterwards Provost of Eton College), was presented to 
the King, kissed his hand, and received his thanks for the 
services she had rendered, a few years before, to his brother 
the Duke of York. She had been, at that time, attached 
to the Court, and assisted in disguising the young Prince, 
and getting him safely sent out of the country.^ On the 
following day, after dinner, the royal party departed for 
Stirhng, taking the road by Culross, Kincardine, and Alloa, 
along the north bank of the Forth. 

1 Balfour's Annals, iv. p. 82. 

- S. Clarke's Life of James IL ii. p. 35. See a farther notice of this lady 
after the battle of Dunbar. 



58 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II, 

On the 29th, Charles was permitted by the Committee 
of the Kirk and State, to pay a visit to the army at Leith. 
His presence caused great joy among the soldiers, who, as 
an evidence of their loyalty, marked a crown and the letter 
R. upon their arms ; but owing to some mismanagement, a 
relaxation of discipline took place among them in conse- 
quence of the royal presence. Balfour says, " His coming 
bred much joy among the soldiery, but great confusion 
and neglect of duty in the camp.'' The King lodged in 
Lord Balmerino's house in Leith — " a large massive edifice, 
entered by an alley from the Kirkgate, and by a garden of 
some extent from Constitution Street. This house, one of 
the many tenements of historical note in Leith, is still 
viewed with interest as the brief residence of the second 
Charles.'' 

The King's popularity with the army, together with his 
known secret inclinations, had the effect of inducing many 
officers and men who had formerly served under Montrose 
and Hamilton, to come forward and offer him their services. 
These were at first not objected to, though viewed by a 
jealous and suspicious eye by the ministers of the covenant- 
ing kirk. And their co-operation would have been of 
immense benefit to the royal cause at this time, because 
they consisted chiefly of influential gentlemen, and expe- 
rienced troops. But we shall see presently that, through 
an almost incredible infatuation, these useful auxiliaries 
were soon obliged to quit the army. 

The King at this time, with the concurrence of the State 
Committee, issued a proclamation to the English army, 
offering a pardon and welcome to all who should come over 
to him, excepting only those who had been accessory to the 
murder of his father ; but the hand of the ruling party was 
sufficiently apparent from the following preamble to the 
proclamation : — " Whereas the Lord hath been pleased, in 
his gracious goodness, and tender mercy, to discover unto 
his Majesty the great evil of his ways, wherein he hath 
formerly been led by wicked counsels," &c. 

The Presbyterian army, including those who had recently 
joined it, now amounted to 15,000 foot and 7000 horse, 



JULY 1650. 59 

which was more in number than Cromwell possessed. Yet 
the latter, nothing daunted, resolved to offer them battle, 
which he did on the 29th July. — " When we came to the 
place," he says himself, " w^e resolved to get our cannons as 
near to them as we could, hoping thereby to annoy them. 
We likewise perceived that they had some force upon the 
hill that overlooks Edinburgh, from whence we might be 
annoyed, and did send up a party to possess said hill — 
which prevailed ; but, upon the whole, we did find that their 
army was not easily to be attempted. Wherefore we lay 
still all said day, which proved to be such a day and night 
of rain as I had seldom seen, and greatly to our disad- 
vantage, the enemy having enough to cover them, and we 
nothing at all considerable. Our soldiers did abide this 
difficulty with great courage and resolution, hoping they 
would speedily come to fight. In the morning, the ground 
being very wet, and our provisions scarce, we resolved to 
draw back to our quarters at Musselburgh, there to refresh 
and re-victual. The enemy, when we drew oflp, fell upon 
our rear, and put them into some little disorder ; but our 
bodies of horse being in some readiness, came to a grabble 
with them, when, indeed, there was a gallant and hot dis- 
pute ; the Major-General (Lambert) and Colonel Whalley 
being in the rear, and the enemy drawing out great bodies 
to second their first affront. Our men charged them to the 
very trenches, and beat them in. The Major- General's 
horse was shot in the neck and head, himself run through 
the arm with a lance, and run into another place of his 
body, was taken prisoner by the enemy, but rescued imme- 
diately by Lieutenant Empson of my regiment. Colonel 
Whalley, who was then nearest to the Major-General, did 
charge very resolutely, and repulsed the enemy, and killed 
divers of them upon the place, and took some prisoners, 
without any considerable loss, which indeed did so amaze 
and quiet them, that we marched off to Musselburgh ; but 
they dared not send out a man to trouble us. We hear 
their young king looked upon all this, but was very ill satis- 
fied to see their men do no better."" Another authority says, 
that the King stood on the Calton Hill during the action, 



60 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

and seeing his people did not behave better, nicknamed 
them " Greenhorns."' He would gladly have taken part in 
the fray, but was not permitted. 

In consequence of this discomfiture, the Kirk ordained a 
fast to be kept on the last day of this month, assigning 
three causes for it : — 1st, The insufficient purgation of 
the King's household ; 2dly, The army's self-confidence ; 
and, 8dly, Its profaneness.^ These, it is to be under- 
stood, were the topics discussed in the sermons preached 
on the day in question. But on the 80th, the Scots again 
attacked Cromwell, with a view to retrieve their recent 
failure. In number SOOO horse, and 500 foot, under Colonels 
Strachan and Montgomery, they made an attempt on the 
enemy at Musselburgh ; in which, though they had some 
success at the beginning of the day, they were driven back 
with loss. Balfour says, with the natural bias of a partisan, 
that " if they had had 1000 men more they would have 
destroyed the whole English army." Dr Bate, in his 
" Elenchus Motuum Nuperorum in Anglia," says, that 
Charles sallied out in person on this occasion to assist his 
retreating troops, replaced them in their ranks, under cover 
of the great guns of the fortifications, and thus enabled 
them to regain their quarters without farther loss ; and 
that in consequence of this the men, finding next morn- 
ing how much they owed to the King's personal bravery, 
marked the initials C. R. on their caps or coats, some with 
charcoal, others with red cord.^ Cromwell, alluding to the 
above mentioned encounter, in a letter to the President of 
the English Council, remarks : — " Indeed this is a sweet 
beginning of your business, or rather of the Lord's ; and 
I believe it is not very satisfactory to the enemy, especially 
the kirk party ; and I trust that this work, which is the 
Lord's, will prosper in the hands of his servant." Of four 
Scottish ministers who had come out from the entrench- 

1 Life of Robert Blair, p. 234. 

2 " Funiculo igniario." Dr Bate had been physician to Cromwell, and acted 
in the same capacity to Charles IL after the Restoration. The most interest- 
ing part of his " Elenchus,'' is the King's adventures after his escape fi-om 
Worcester, which he had from his own mouth. Sicuti ab ipso serenissimo 
regis ore haurire datum est. — P. 243. 



AUGUST 1650. 61 

ments, to give assurance to their friends of victory, there 
were three killed, and one was made prisoner. On the 
other hand, Captain Wilford, an officer of CromwelFs own 
regiment, was taken prisoner and carried to Leith, where 
he was courteously received by General Leslie. There, some 
of the Presbyterian ministers came to him, and asked him 
*' how long he had served under Antichrist, that proud 
man Cromwell, on whose head the curse of God did hang, 
for murdering the King, and breaking the Covenant ? And 
they did expect daily the Lord would deliver him up into 
their hands."" ^ 

On the 2d August, the King reviewed the army on the 
Links of Leith. The same day he made a public entrance 
into Edinburgh, accompanied by the Earl of Eglinton and 
his Lifeguards, and the chief of the Scottish nobility. 
Proceeding to the Castle, he was saluted by its great guns. 
He was afterwards feasted in the Parliament House by the 
public authorities of the city, and returned in the evening to 
his lodgings at Leith.^ When the ministers saw that there 
were so many in the army who were more devoted to the 
the King than to them, and more eager for the defence of 
the throne than of the Covenant, jealousy took possession of 
their minds, and they determined to " purge the army," as 
they termed it, of such offensive intermixtures ; and mean- 
while to remove Charles from among the soldiers. Much 
as they hated and dreaded the English Sectarians, they 
yet more dreaded the influence of the " Malignants," and 
would not allow either the King or his friends to fight against 
their enemies, lest their very presence should provoke God's 
indignation against them ! " The ministers," says Balfour, 
" did preach incessantly for this purging, shewing that if 
it did not proceed, the consequence would prove lamentable 

' True Relation, pp. 220, 224. 

2 Macaulay, in the first editions of his History of England, says, p. 1 31, that 
" on this occasion Charles held a solemn and melancholy Court in the long 
deserted halls of Holyrood.'" I do not find that he ever entered within the 
walls of Hol^Tood, at this or any other time. The popularity of Macaulay as a 
writer, is not owing to his historical accuracy, but to the brilliancy of his style, 
and its adaptation to the prevailing taste. See the Rev. E. C. Harrington's 
Remarks on Macaulav's History, 2d edition. 



62 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

and destructive; and would undoubtedly multiply God's 
judgments on the land and army ;" and, says Blair, " some 
were of the mind that the Lord would never bless the army 
so long as the King remained in it."" He was accordingly 
removed on the 8d August, much against his will, to Dun- 
fermline ; and from that day the process of " purging "" the 
army commenced, and continued till nearly all vigour and 
energy was driven out of it. 

The following letter, partly in cypher, which the King with 
difficulty found an opportunity of writing to his friend the 
Duke of Hamilton, will shew the state of his mind at this 
time. It is dated Dunfermline, the 6th August : — " I 
had written to you before now, to let you know I had re- 
ceived yours of the 23 July, if I had not been in the army ; 
and ever since I came hither, 1 have been so narrowly 
watched by the severe Christians, that I could not answer 
your letter before now. I thank you for the care you have 
of my person ; but indeed I think I had been as "safe in 
the army as here ; for the soldiers were so kind to me upon 
my first coming, that the next day after, the Commission 
of the Kirk desired me to retire out of the army, pretending 
it was for the safety of my person ; but indeed it was for 
fear that I should get too great an interest with the soldiers. 

I have commanded (cypher) to give you a particular 

account of all. I shall now only ask your opinion in two 

things ; the first is, — (cyphers) whether it were not — 

(cyphers). — The other is, what should be done — (cyphers). 
I hope your stay where you are will not be long. I am sure 
I shall do all I can that I may have your company again, 
which is very much wished for, by your most affectionate 
friend, C. R.."^ 

I have already stated, that the purging of the Covenant- 
ing army from Malignants began on the 3d of August. It 
occupied so long a time that it was not quite over on the 
very eve of the battle of Dunbar, and was, no doubt, one 
main cause of the Presbyterians being then defeated ; for 
not only all who were commonly called Malignants, and 
those who had fought for the late King and Montrose, were 

1 " Account of the Preservation of Charles II." p. 86. 



AUGUST 1650. 63 

removed, but all who were not hearty in their adherence to the 
Covenant, and the Calvinistic theology of the Westminster 
Standards of Faith. It was computed that in the course 
of August, more than eighty experienced officers, and 4000 
brave men, were withdrawn from the service of their King 
and country at the very time when they were most needed.^ 
It was better, the Presbyterians said, to fight their enemies 
with a handful of the " elect,'' than with mighty arms 
loaded with sin, which, like Achan's wedge, would surely 
be the cause of their destruction. And the Rev. James 
Guthrie said : — " The Lord hath spoken it in his word, and 
verified it in his works, in the days of old, that it is all one 
with him to save with few, or with many ; and that a few 
whom God will countenance, are more worth than many 
with whom he hatha controversy." 2 Mr Guthrie's error 
was in supposing himself and his party to be the favourites 
of heaven, and under a miraculous government, like the 
ancient Israelites, of which he could have given no evidence. 
In short, the ultra-covenanters, in dismissing the King's 
best friends from their army, did Cromwell's work as efibc- 
tually as if they had been bribed by him ; and the result was 
just what might have been foreseen. In exactly one month 
from the day the " purging" began, the Covenanting army 
was most signally defeated by less than half its numbers. 

Meanwhile skirmishes were almost daily occurring with 
various success between the two contending armies, which 
it is unnecessary to detail very minutely, as the King was 
not permitted to be present at any of them. On the 5th 
and 6th of August, Cromwell marched back his army to 
Dunbar, with a view to obtain provisions and supplies ; 
" after he had sent," says Balfour, " a letter most ridiculous 
and blasphemous, to the Commission of the General As- 
sembly, and a reply to the Committee of Estates' answer 
to his foolish declaration ; being in effect, nothing but a 
rhapsody of boasting and hyperbolic nonsense." I am not 

^ Nicoll makes the number much greater, p. 20. But these loyal soldiers 
were determined their King should not lose the benefit of their services. We 
shall again hear of them in the sequel. 

2 Waters of Sihor. 



64 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U. 

aware that copies of these communications have been pre- 
served, nor is it perhaps of much consequence. In a few 
days, Cromwell returned from Dunbar to his former position, 
to the great dismay of the Scots, who were abandoning 
themselves to the most extravagant joy on account of his 
supposed retreat, and were offering up public thanksgivings 
for their' deliverance. During this protracted state of 
affairs, not only the citizens of Edinburgh, but the inhabi- 
tants of the south-eastern counties endured great hardships. 
Nicoll records, that during the lying of the two armies in 
the fields, all the corn between Berwick and the neigh- 
bourhood of Edinburgh was destroyed, or eaten up. Such 
a scarcity prevailed in Edinburgh, that provisions could 
hardly be had for money, and even these were of bad quality. 
The citizens were compelled to provide rations and other 
necessaries for the army, as well as to take care of the sick 
and wounded. Heriot's Hospital, and an edifice still known 
as " Paul's Work," at the end of Leith Wynd, was used 
for the latter purpose. The English themselves were not 
in a much better condition, and pillaged every thing they 
could lay their hands upon. 

Samuel Rutherford's letters, some of which were written 
at this time, are singularly barren of all allusions to the pass- 
ing events of the day ; and are so stuffed with religious 
rhapsody, " and hyperbolic nonsense," that he can scarcely 
ever find room for any thing else. Two of them, however, 
addressed to Colonel Kerr, may be noticed ; one written in 
this month, and the other immediately after the battle of 
Dunbar. This Kerr had a command under General Leslie, 
and had been successful in his expedition against Montrose 
and the " MaHgnants " in the north. But after the defeat 
at Dunbar, he was so exasperated against his General, that 
he declared that he would not again fight under his orders, 
because he looked upon him as " a natural graceless man, 
whom the Lord would never bless with success." However, 
he had no better success himself, for he was defeated, 
wounded, and taken prisoner by the English in the Decem- 
ber following, as we shall see at the proper place. To this 
military enthusiast the still more enthusiastic Rutherford 



AUGUST 1G50. 65 

thus writes from St Andrews, on the 10th August : — " Much 
honoured and truly worthy, — I desire not to be rash in 
judging ; but I am a stranger to the mind of Christ, if our 
adversaries, who have unjustly invaded us, be not now in 
the camp of those that make war with the Lamb ; but the 
Lamb shall overcome them at length, for he is the Lord of 
lords, and King of kings ; and they who are with him are 
called, and chosen, and faithful ; and though you and I see 
but the dark side of God's dispensations this day towards 
Britain, yet the fair, beautiful, and desirable close of it 
must be, the confederacy of the nations of the world with 
Britain's Lord of armies. And let me die in the comforts 
of the faith of this, that a throne shall be set up for Ohrist 
in this island of Britain (which is, and shall be, a garden 
more fruitful of trees of righteousness ; and payeth, and 
shall pay, more thousands to the Lord of the vineyard than 
is paid in thrice the bounds of Great Britain upon earth), 
and then there can be neither Papist, Prelate, Malignant, 
nor Sectary, who dare draw a sword against him who sitteth 
on the throne. His good will who dwelt in the bush, and 
it burnt not, be yours, and with you. I am yours in his 
sweet Lord Jesus. S. R." These wild anticipations, if 
indeed they be intelligible, were not destined to be realised ; 
but they shew the kind of spirit which animated the leading 
men among the Scottish Covenanters ; and their deep- 
rooted conviction that, however inconsistent their conduct, 
they belonged to " the called, chosen, and faithful followers 
of the Lamb." 

The day before this letter was written, Commissioners 
from the Kirk and Army, namely, the Earl of Lothian, Sir 
A, Johnstone, the Reverends Robert Douglas and James 
Guthrie, ^vith two or three others, waited on the King at 
Dunfermline, and urged him to subscribe a long Declara- 
tion which they brought with them, stuffed with more than 
their usual extravagance and intolerance ; in which they 
made him reflect severely on the memory of both his parents, 
as if their sins, and especially the " idolatry" of his mother, 
had caused all the disasters with which Providence was 
then visiting Scotland ! Their object in obtaining his signa- 

5 



66 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

ture to this document, and publishing it, was both to satisfy 
a numerous party among themselves who had little confi- 
dence in Charles's sincerity, in spite of all he had done to 
conciliate them ; and also to refute the taunts of Cromwell, 
who was continually proclaiming that the son inherited all 
the prejudices of his parents, and was, in truth, the very 
key-stone of malignancy ; and though neither of these 
parties was at all likely to be convinced by any new state- 
ment that Charles might publish, yet it was thought not 
the less necessary to extort his signature to this most ob- 
noxious declaration. For once, however, the King refused 
compliance with their desires, and sent away the Commis- 
sioners both surprised and disappointed. He felt it his duty 
to honour, not dishonour, his father and mother, whatever 
might be their errors ; nor was it at all clear to him, that 
they had been guilty of greater errors than they who were 
now most vehemently condemning them. 

But the Commissioners were determined not to let the 
King off on such pleas, however conscientious and just. 
They consulted together, and drew up what Baillie himself 
calls a " terrible act," dated " West Kirk, 13 August," 
wherein they say, that " this kirk and kingdom do not own 
nor espouse any malignant quarrel or interest, but that they 
fight merely upon their former grounds and principles, and 
in defence of the cause of God and of the kingdom, as they 
have done these twelve years bygone ; and, therefore, as 
they disclaim all the sin and guilt of the King and of his 
house, so they will not own him or his interest, nowise than 
with a subordination to God, and so far as he aims and 
prosecutes the cause of God, and disclaims his and his father's 
oppositions to the cause of God, and to the Covenant, and 
likewise all the enemies thereof; and that they will, with 
convenient speed, take into consideration the papers lately 
sent unto them from Oliver Cromwell, and vindicate them 
from all the falsehoods contained therein ; especially in 
these things wherein the quarrel betwixt us and that party 
is misstated, as if we owned the late King's proceedings, 
and as if we resolved to prosecute and maintain his present 
Majesty's interest, before and without acknowledgment of 



AUGUST 1G50 67 

the sin of his house, and former ways, and satisfaction to 
God's people in both kingdoms." This singular document 
is signed by the Colonel Kerr already mentioned, as the 
representative of the party who employed him. 

The authors and promoters of this act were Guthrie, 
Gillespie, Hutchison, Durham, and the lay elders Ohiesley, 
Swinton, and Warriston. Swinton subsequently turned 
Quaker. Chiesley made the most humble submissions to the 
King after the Restoration.^ Guthrie was executed for 
high treason. Warriston soon after this, went over to 
Cromwell, and at the Restoration promised, if they would 
spare his life, '* to put the registers into good order, and to 
settle the King's prerogative from old records.''^ Gillespie 
offered his services in promoting Episcopacy. Hutchison 
took the indulgence in 1 668, and was in consequence de- 
nounced by his former friends. 

A copy of this document General Leslie was desired to 
send to Cromwell, with a request that he would make its 
contents known to his army. To this message the English 
commander merely replied, that " he would not juggle with 
them ; he came for their King, and if they would deliver 
him up, he would treat ; otherwise, he was there to fight 
them, whenever they were disposed to come out from their 
entrenchments." A copy of the West Kirk act was also 
put into the hands of the King himself, in order, doubtless, 
to excite his fears for his personal safety, if he still refused 
to sign the declaration they had previously submitted to 
him. 

In this dilemma Charles called a Council, the first he 
had called since his coming to Scotland, of Lords Argyll, 
Lothian, Eglinton, Tweeddale, Lome, &c. who might be 
supposed to have some little sympathy with him, and to 
have influence at the same time, to bring the Kirk to a 
certain degree of reason in its demands. It must have been 
either immediately before, or immediately after, the meet- 
ing of this Council, that he wrote the following private letter 

1 C. K. Sharpe's Edition of Kirkton's History, p. 216. 

- This instigator of the massacre of the royalist prisoners during the rebel- 
lion, was recording his religious experiences at the very time he was indulging 
his blood-thirsty propensities ! Sharpe's Kirkton, p. 174. 



68 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

to the Duke of Hamilton, dated 14th August: — " I have 

sent this bearer (cyphers) — - to acquaint you with my 

condition. I desire you to give him credit in what he shall 
say to you. I entreat you to send me your opinion, as soon 
as you can, what I ought to do. I dare not say any more, 
for they are so watchful over me, that I do nothing but 
they observe it."^ 

I may here observe, once for all, that we always lose the 
most interesting parts of these private communications to 
the King's friends, by his refering to the confidential bearer 
of the letter for the very particulars we want most, namely, 
the exact circumstances of his position, and the treatment 
he experienced from those around him. Thus, in all his 
letters to the Marquis of Ormond from Scotland, after 
going fully into Irish affairs, he finishes by referring to the 
bearer for the particulars concerning himself.^ 

Whether Charles received any answer to his letter to 
the Duke of Hamilton does not appear ; but in a few days he 
sent to inform the Commissioners that he was prepared to 
sign any thing that would please them, entreating only that 
they would be as sparing as possible of reflections on his 
father's memory, and his mother's character; an offence 
which these rigid religionists should have been the last per- 
sons to ask any son whatever to be guilty of, and more 
especially a son whom they were always lecturing on his 
moral and religious obligations. But, indeed, on the point 
of honouring one's parents, and one's Sovereign, their ideas 
must have been somewhat lax, if we are to judge from their 
comment on the Fifth Commandment in the Westminster 
Catechism, which they had recently compiled, where they 
make no mention at all of the Sovereign, and make the 
obedience due to parents to evaporate into merely " per- 
forming the duties belonging to superiors^'' 

On the 1 6th of the month, the Earl of Wemyss and Mr 
Wynram of Libberton, accompanied by the Revds. Messrs 
Dickson^ and Gillespie, brought him the former Declaration, 

^ Account of the Preservation of Charles II,, p. 88. 

2 Carte's Collection, passim. 

3 This was the gentleman who, a few years before, while the execution of 
the royahst prisoners was proceeding, exclaimed, " the work goes on bonily." 
He was a great favourite with the Covenanting ladies of his time, which, how- 



AUGUST UoO. Gi) 

isliglitly modified, in which they made him say that he de- 
sired " to be deeply humbled before God, because of his 
father's opposition to the work of God, and to the Solemn 
League and Covenant ; and because his mother had been 
guilty of idolatry, the toleration of which in the King's 
house could not but be a high provocation to a jealous God, 
visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children." He was 
farther made to acknowledge all his own sins, and the sins 
of his father s house, " craving pardon for the same through 
the blood of Christ." " He declares that he has not sworn 
the Covenants upon any sinister intention for attaining his 
own ends, but, as far as human weakness will permit, in the 
truth and sincerity of his heart." "He will further purge the 
army, and his own Court and family." "He will have no 
enemies but the enemies of the Covenant." He again abro- 
gates the " sinful and unlawful treaty of peace made with the 
bloody Irish rebels, and his allowing them the liberty of the 
Popish religion." He again "allows the Directory of Worship, 
Confession of Faith and Catechism agreed on by the Synod 
of Divines of Westminster." He " detests and abhorrs all 
popery, superstition, and idolatry, together with prelacy^ 
and all errors, heresy, schism, and profaneness ; and re- 
solves not to tolerate^ much less allow of tJiese^ IN any part of 
HIS DOMINIONS, but to oppose himself thereto, and endeavour 
the extirpation thereof to the utmost of his power." The 
whole document^ is of a piece with what is here presented 
to view, and may justly excite astonishment at the folly and 
delusion of those who could draw it up, as well as at the 
double-dealing and insincerity of him who submitted to ex- 
hibit it to the world as his own deed. Well might Cromwell 
express his surprise that " the Scots should publish this to 
the world as the act of a person converted, when in their 

ever, lie afifeeted to ascribe to the love of the cause iu which he was engaged, 
rather than to the love of his person. Wodrow tells the following characteristic 
anecdote of him : — " I have heard that when Mr David Dickson came in to 
see the Lady Eglintoun, who, at the time, had with her the Ladies Wigton, 
Culross, «Scc., and they all cai'essed him very much, he said, ' Ladies, if all this 
kindness be to me, as Mr David Dickson, I can I'euder you no thanks ; but if 
to me as a servant of my master, and for his sake, I tak it all weel.' " 

1 Sec an cntii'e copy in Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland, ii. p. 324. 



70 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

hearts they knew he abhorred the doing of it, and meant it 
not." 

When the above Declaration was placed before Charles 
for his signature, the Rev. P. Gillespie advised him, if he 
was not satisfied with it in his soul and conscience, not to 
sign it, even for the sake of his three kingdoms. In this 
advice, under the guise of disinterested friendship, there 
was no small mixture of cruelty, seeing his advisers, who 
had beguiled him on thus far, now threatened to abandon 
his cause if he refused to comply with their wishes. And 
there is even good reason for believing that many of 
them, and among others, this very Gillespie, would have 
been better pleased if he had refused to sign it, in order 
that they might have a plausible pretext for delivering 
him up to Cromwell, and making their own terms with 
the English Parliament. Charles, however, thought fit 
to sign it, saying, " Mr Gillespie, I am satisfied." This 
was at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th of 
August, and immediately after, he mounted his horse, glad 
perhaps to escape from his own painful reflections by some 
excitement, and rode to Perth. And as a farther diversion 
to his mind, he was there allowed to witness ^'play^ which 
was performed on a platform near the river, close by Gowrie 
House, then the royal residence. But, '' unhappy must he 
ever be who condemns himself in that which he allows.'' This 
act on the part of Charles was, in truth, as much resigning 
himself and his crown to the dominion of the Covenanters, 
as John King of England resigned Ms crown, and became 
vassal to Pope Innocent III. Whether we look to the 
abject submission of the two kings, or to the tyranny of 
those who claimed to be their spiritual directors, the two 
cases are altogether parallel. 

There were some things in the above Declaration which 
gave umbrage to the English Parliament, in consequence 
of which they issued a counter-statement, wherein they say, 
with a severe irony, " and now what a blessed and hopeful 
change is wrought upon this young King ! How hearty is 
he become in the cause of God, and the work of reforma- 
tion ! And how readily does he swallow down these bitter 
pills which are prepared and urged upon him as necessary 



AUGUST IGoO. 71 

to effect the cure of that disorder under which his afftiu's 
lie ! But who docs not sec the gross hypocrisy of this whole 
transaction, and the sandy and rotten foundation of all the 
resolutions flowing thereupon ? At first, he that on the 15th 
August hugged all his malignant and popish party to his 
bosom, and lodged them in the secret recesses of his favour 
and love, as his best friends, the day following (from a full 
persuasion of the justice and equality of all the heads and 
articles of the Covenant), can renounce and discard them 
in the sight of God and the world ; and vow never to have 
any thing more to do with them, as old sinners, unless they, 
by his example, turn to be as good converts as himself, and 
be able to act and personate the same part,"''' &;c. And, 
moreover, as Charles had thrown out, in the declaration, 
severe reflections against themselves, and had offered to his 
English subjects all such reasonable satisfaction as a new 
Parliament sitting in freedom might decree ; and had also 
offered a free pardon to all (except the late King"'s mur- 
derers), who would throw off the present yoke, and submit 
to his lawful government, so they go on to express their 
belief, that ^' no pious or judicious person can possibly be 
deluded under such gross deceits, to contribute such an 
assistance as in that declaration is called for." — " Never- 
theless they havi9 resolved, for the better information and 
satisfaction of the people of the land, more particularly to 
unmask the hypocrisy and wickedness lodged under the 
special pretences of that declaration ; and in the meantime 
do enact that all persons whatever who shall abet the said 
declaration, hy printing or puUisMng the same, or by prose- 
cuting the design or ends therein contained, are hereby 
adjudged to be guilty of treason, and shall be proceeded 
against as traitors.''^ It would appear from this, that 
amidst all the clamour about " liberty'"' in England at this 
time, the liberty of the press was not permitted. 

At the risk of being thought tedious, I cannot forbear 
quoting some very just remarks on the same subject from 
Sir E. Nicholas, in a letter to the Marquis of Ormond. 
The date of the letter is somewhat later than the time we 

* Parliamentary History 1650. 



72 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

are now reviewing, but the subject of it refers chiefly to the 
Declaration we have been speaking of. Sir Edward thus 
writes : — " I hear your Excellency will be in Paris, whither 
Mr Henry Seymour being newly gone, you will by him have 
a full and perfect relation of his Majesty's present condi- 
tion, and the state of his affairs in Scotland, which I may 
say with freedom to your Lordship, to me seems to be in 
no such prosperity as I hear it is at the Louvre cried up.^ 
For first, for his Majesty's person, all his servants (even 
those of his bed-chamber, of whom he had most reason to 
be confident), were forced from him ; and strangers, whose 
names he never heard of, but for their notorious crimes 
against his blessed father, are placed in their room. Then, 
for his affairs in Scotland, when I consider that Infamous 
Declaration which they compelled the King to publish, and 
are still resolved to have his Majesty make good (though 
not only all the King's party, but even all the strangers 
that have any sense of honour or conscience declaim against 
it), as that they cease not to persecute with exile all that 
speak against it, and honest Mr Seymour and others for 
having dissuaded the King from doing it, I cannot so much 
as hope that those men can intend any good or safety to 
his Majesty, whom they have so notoriously and wickedly 
abused and defamed. Nor can I bring myself to conceive 
so meanly of the providence of those crafty Scots as to 
believe that they will ever permit an army to be raised that 
they shall not be able to guide and govern as they please. 
They are doubtless so conscious of their guilt to the King 
and his blessed father, as that they will rather deliver up 
his Majesty's person to Cromwell, and trust him and his 
masters^ with their lives and fortunes, than ever suffer any 
power (not absolutely of their opinion and faction) to grow 
up to the hazard of their safety. So that, upon the whole 
matter, I conceive his Majesty cannot, by less than a 
miracle, either prosper or be safe in the hands and power 

1 The Louvre, or French Court, had all along advised Charles to go into the 
schemes of the Presbyterians, and it therefore naturally wished to represent 
this measure in the most favourable light. 

^ Meaning Cromwell and his masters the English Parliament. 



AUGUST 1G50. 73 

he now is. But this my very unskilful judgment is so re- 
pugnant to the wisdom of the Council of the Louvre, that 
you will find such discourses as these to be there accounted 
ridiculous. Besides this, the Scots refusing to receive any 
foreign aid from any parts whatsoever, and disclaiming any 
party that shall offer to rise for the King in England, I 
would gladly know how it will be possible for the King ever 
to recover, by their means, tlie Crown of England. I shall 
now say no more on this subject, because I suppose you 
will be more exactly informed of all particulars by Mr 
Seymour.'' 

The foregoing extract discloses a fact which I do not 
find noticed in any of the contemporary historians, that the 
Scots had actually refused to receive any help from other 
nations, in carrying out their designs in favour of the King. 
The sole reason of this must have been that those nations 
had never worshipped, and would in all probability refuse 
to worship, their idol Covenant. And yet, without such 
help, the writer saw clearly the King could never recover 
the Crown of England. 

One word more concerning the Dunfermline Declaration. 
Its authors, strange to say, have their admirers and defen- 
ders in modern times. They are called by a living Scottish 
writer, " the guardians of our liberties ;'' and " the up- 
holders of the cause of Grod, and the spiritual independence 
of the kingdom of Christ" ! 

One should have thought that the Covenanters had by 
this time extorted from their unhappy King all the written 
concessions, acknowledgments of repentance, and promises 
of amendment, which it was possible for them to ask, and 
much more than there was the least chance of their ever 
obtaining. But they were not yet satisfied ! Their desires 
seem to have been like a moral disease, which only grew 
the more intense by repeated gratifications ; and yet they 
had no more confidence in him after each new concession 
than they had before. Their next demand was prepared 
in the end of August, and. like the previous ones, w^ould 
have been submitted to by the King (who seems to have 
made up his mind no longer to deny them any thing), but 



74 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

that the defeat of their army at Dunbar, a few days after- 
wards, gave an unexpected turn to their affairs, and saved 
him at least, if not tJiem^ from a new disgrace. This demand 
contained very nearly the same things which had been urged 
before, but it was, if possible, of a more stringent character. 
It obliged the King to sanction a day of solemn fasting and 
humiliation throughout Scotland, in which he was to per- 
form a sort of public penance for his own sins, and the sins 
of his ancestors, as far back as James V., his great-great- 
grand father ! It is surprising, while they were about it, 
that they did not go a little farther back, and make him 
answerable for the unchastity of James IV., the supersti- 
tious tendencies of James III., the murder of the Earl of 
Douglas by James II. , and the same crime inflicted on the 
Duke of Albany's sons by James I., not to speak of the 
poperT/ which all of these professed and upheld l However, 
they thought fit to stop at the Reformation, and the singular 
reason they assigned for Charles's penance were these : — 
1st, The opposition made by James V. and his daughter 

Mary, to the Reformation of the land fi'om Popery. 
2d, The opposition made by James VI. to Presbyterianism, 

and his preference of Episcopacy. 
8d, Charles I.'s sinfulness in exercising arbitrary power, — 
in bringing in the Prayer-book and Canons, — in con- 
demning the Solemn League and Covenant, — in favour- 
ing many superstitious ceremonies, — in marrying a 
Roman Catholic Princess, — in tolerating idolatry in 
his household, — in favouring malignants, — and lastly, 
in allowing his Irish subjects the liberty of popish 
worship ! 
It is really most difficult to conceive what was the precise 
ohject the Covenanters had in view, by continually harping 
on the sins of Charles's forefathers ; as if, supposing them 
to have been as wicked as was alleged, he was to be an- 
swerable for them ! or as if he could be answerable for any 
one's sins but his own ! If they meant to visit their sins upon 
him as a punishment, that surely was the exclusive prero- 
gative of heaven, and was a most dangerous weapon to be 
entrusted to fallible men. If they wanted him to atone for 



AUGUST 1650. 75 

their sins by a vicarious suffering, that was a doctrine very 
irreconcileable with their ultra-protestantism. Or lastly, 
if they wished to avert the divine wi-ath from themselves 
and their country, that would have been best done, not by 
making their King the scapegoat of their own and other 
persons' sins, but by their personal repentance and amend- 
ment. Many of the Kings of Judah and Israel had wicked 
fathers ; but though God visited the father's sins on the 
children, yet we do not find that man was ever empowered 
to do so, without a positive command miraculously convey- 
ed ; and still less do we find that the sons were required to 
atone for the father s sins, or to repent of, and expiate 
transgressions of which they had not been personally guilty ; 
" The son did not bear the inicpity of the father, nor the 
father the iniquity of the son."' In short, the Scottish 
Covenanters seem to have acted under the influence of a 
delusion or morbid feeling, which they could not easily have 
explained themselves. What would Scottish nobles have 
said, had the Presbyterian ministers made them do penance 
for their forefathers sins, some of which were of a far more 
aggravated character than any that the King's forefathers 
had committed ? Or what would the ministers themselves 
have said, if an arbitrary sovereign had made them an- 
swerable for all the misdoings of their spiritual predecessors, 
Knox, Black, Melville, and Wallace ? Possibly, however, 
they wanted to drive the King to desperation by their re- 
peated importunity, in order that, if he refused to comply 
with their demands, they might have some pretext for de- 
livering him up to the English ; and it was not very likely 
that they who had sold the father^ for the part-payment of 
a debt, would be very scrupulous about making an equally 
disgraceful bargain for the disposal of the son. 

It was probably while this new deed of extorted confes- 
sion lay before him, that Charles wrote to his friend, the 
Duke of Hamilton, the following letter, which is dated 
August 81 : — " I have received your letters by him I sent 
to you, but I have not had time to answer them before now, 
nor can I answer you in all the particulars, but must refer 
you to (cypher) — who will give you a particular ac- 



76 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

count of all. I am extremely sensible of the kind offer you 
made me in your letter ; but I do not think it fit to hazard 
yourself upon so small an occasion, when it may be done 
without it ; however, I have the same obligation to you as 

if you had done it. Concerning (cypher) — I desire 

you to direct me which is the best and the safest way, be- 
cause I do not know who to employ without suspicion. I 

was thinking if you would send to (cypher) — about 

it, as being the proper person ; but I shall leave it to you, 
and do as you direct me, being one that I have so much 
confidence in." 

Without the cypher of this letter it is impossible to un- 
derstand it ; and even then we should be ignorant of the 
interesting particulars which the person referred to must 
have communicated to the Duke of Hamilton. 

Meanwhile, skirmishes had been going on almost d'aily 
between the Presbyterian and Sectarian armies ; till, at 
length, Cromwell, feeling the pressure of sickness among his 
men, and the want of provisions, broke up his head-quarters 
in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and retired once more to 
Dunbar, with a view either to return to England, or to 
withdraw his enemies from their entrenchments. Lesley, 
whose army was now nearly " purged " of malignants, 
and yet double the number of his opponent's, which had 
been much diminished by disease, followed Cromwell, and 
encamped on Doon Hill near Dunbar. During CromwelFs 
retreat, favourable opportunities offered for attacking him ; 
but the Clerical Council of War, which directed all the 
Scots movements, were opposed to it ; and were still en- 
gaged in purging their army, when they should have been 
fighting the enemy. i A higher degree of infatuation it is 
not easy to imagine. Doon Hill was even a more favourable 
position than the one Lesley had quitted ; and where, had 
he remained, not only could Cromwell not have molested 
him, but the English themselves had no means of escape, 
owing to the Scots having secured the pass of Cockburns- 
path, by which alone there was an outlet to the south, and 
of which the Sectarian General himself said, that " ten men 

i Blair's Life, pp. 235, 237. 



SEPTEMBER 1G50. 77 

to hinder, were better than forty to make their way." So 
mucli did Cromwell and his chief officers feel the danger of 
their situation, that after an early supper at Dunbar on the 
2d September, they hold a Council of War, at which many 
recommended that they should ship their infantry in the 
course of that night, and with their horse force through the 
enemy at the pass on the following day. But to this mea- 
sure General Lambert was warmly opposed, and it was 
finally abandoned. CromwelFs only chance of safety now lay 
in the Scots descending from their impregnable position on 
the hill, and coming to an open engagement on the plain ; 
but of this, from his knowledge of Lesley's generalship, he 
could have little expectation. In truth, the English Gene- 
ral never, in the course of his military career, committed a 
greater blunder than in getting himself into his present 
difficulty ; so that, humanly speaking, if his enemy had 
not committed one still greater, his army must have been 
taken or destroyed. In this dilemma, he experienced 
what he calls some " weakness of the flesh;'' meaning, 
I suppose, fears as to his ultimate success. But when 
the Council of War already mentioned was over, he desired 
his officers, and through them, their men, to spend some 
time " in seeking the Lord." When their devotions were 
ended, he told them that he had himself experienced a 
peculiar enlargement of heart while engaged in prayer, and 
bade them " take courage, for God had certainly heard 
them, and would appear for them." One of his officers, in 
his memoirs, says, " As our regiment was marching in the 
head of the horse, a cornet was at prayer in the night, and 
I appointed one of my officers to take my place. I rid to 
hear him, and he was exceedingly carried on in the duty. 
I met with so much of God in it, as I was satisfied deli- 
verance was at hand."^ What a singular inference, from 

^ Memoirs of Capt. Hodgson, p. 1.46. An anecdote is told of the above 
cornet — that, prolonging his prayer to an undue length, Cromwell rode up and 
told him, that he would shoot him through the brains if he did not immediately 
desist, and put his squadron into train. " Old Noll " was too sagacious to 
allow religious, to get the better of military, enthusiasm. Once, in crossing a 
river, he is said to have called out to his men — " Trust in the Lord, and keep 
your powder di'v ! " 



78 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES 11. 

premises still more singular ! These military saints forgot 
that the very same scenes were, and probably at the same 
moment too, going on among those who were about to be 
signally vanquished, and who yet entertained still greater 
confidence of success. At this juncture the English General 
was at Broxmouth, the Earl of Roxburgh's house, about 
a mile east from Dunbar. Early next morning, as he was 
anxiously eyeing the movements of the Scottish army through 
a telescope, he discovered that they had begun their fatal 
march down the hill, and immediately exclaimed, in the joy of 
his heart, " The Lord hath delivered them into our hands."" 
It was even so ; Lesley himself saw that he had the 
English completely in his power, if he remained in the posi- 
tion he had occupied ; but the ministers who were present, 
and constituted the Committee of the Kirk, would not listen 
to this proposal, and insisted he should " go down against 
the Philistines to Gilgal." He next proposed to them to 
give permission to the enemy to pass into England, on con- 
dition of their giving up their arms and ammunition ; and 
to this some of them agreed, from a desire to spare the 
effusion of blood ; but the majority demanded that he should 
go instantly, and " destroy the sinners, the Amalekites ; '' 
they promising him as easy a victory, in answer to their 
prayers, as if God himself had miraculously assured them 
of it. The General, therefore, unable to resist their impor- 
tunity, and really believing that with his great superiority 
of numbers, he could scarcely fail to beat his enemy, de- 
scended from his position for the purpose of acting on the 
offensive. An officer of the English army speaking of the 
unbounded confidence of the Scots says : — " Neither were 
their ministers less insolent and presumptuous than the 
rest ; for as Pharaoh said of the Israelites, ' they are en- 
tangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in,' so 
they, conceiving us to be in a trap, persuaded their com- 
manders to draw up their army between us and home, that 
none of us might escape, but be driven into the sea." Some 
writers of the covenanting school, have attempted to deny 
this charge against the ministers, but there is no fact of 
history better established. 



SEPTEMBER 1G50. 79 

Cut before coming to the battle, let us for a moment re- 
turn to the King, who was at this time in Perth engaged in 
writing the following confidential letter, dated 3d September, 
to his Foreign Secretary, Sir E. Nicholas, then acting as 
his Ambassador at the Hague. ^ 

" Mr Secretary Nicholas, — I have given the bearer his dis- 
patch, and have signed all the commissions with fifty-three 
blanks, which I desire you to fill up as you shall have occa- 
sion. There are two commissions for Marqiris Hertford, 
that if one should miscarry, the other might serve. I have 
sent you here inclosed a letter of credence to the Prince of 
Orange, that if you should have occasion for his assistance 
you may use it ; but pray have a care that you do not press 
him about money, for I have had so much from him already, 
that it were a shame to seek more of him. This bearer will 
acquaint you with my condition much better than I can do 
in a letter. 1 shall only say this to you, that you cannot 

imagine the villainy of the ^ and their party. Indeed 

it has done me a great deal of good ; for nothing could liam 
confirmed me more to the Church of England than being here 
seeing their hypocrisi/.^ I shall send the Duke of York's 
commission, and Lord Gerard's by Oudart, who I will dis- 
patch within this two or three days. I had almost forgot a 
business of great importance, which is to speak to the Prince 
of Orange to send hither a smack, or a herring buss, with 
five or six men, to lie here, pretending it is to carry over a 
messenger when there is occasion, I being at the charge of 
keeping them while they are here. I would have the vessel 
come to Montrose. I would have you and Mr Attorney to 

^ See Evelyn's Memoirs, vol. v. p. 181. 

' Illegible in the MS., but it is not difficult to supply the omission. 

^ It has been asserted that Charles was at this time a Romanist, but the 
above letter, and still more another, addressed to bis brother the Duke of 
York, dated in November 1654, (See the Account of the King's Escape from 
Worcester, edited by Lord Hailes, p. 103), afford a conclusive evidence of the 
contrary. Mr Thomas M-'Crie, in his « Sketches of Scottish Church History," 
tells us, " It was afterwards discovered that before Charles left the Continent 
(meaning before he came to Scotland), he had embraced Popery." An 
assertion like this may perhaps pass in a " Sketch," but it would have been 
more satisfactory if this writer had told his readers where, ichcn, and how this 
discovery was made. — See Miss Strickland's Lives, viii. p. 205. 



80 PERSONAL HISTORY OF. CHARLES IL 

stay in Holland, as being the place that is nearest to this 
kingdom, and where I shall have occasion of your services. 
I have no more to say to you at present, but to assure you 
that I am, and ever will be, your most affectionate friend. 

Charles R." 

This allusion to a herring smack proves that Charles had 
not much confidence in his covenanting friends, and that 
he wished to have the means of escape from their hands 
whenever he might see fit. 

Let us now return to Dunbar. A heavy rain, to which 
the Scots had been exposed on the night of the 2d, and the 
consequent extinction of their matches (long coils of twisted 
tow steeped in saltpetre), together with the fatigue of some 
manoeuvring, were but ill preparations for an arduous fight 
early the following morning, against a well-disciplined, 
though comparatively small, army, which had not suffered 
from the like disadvantages. The watchword on the one 
side was the " Covenant,"" and on the other, " the Lord of 
Hosts;" and it was afterwards boasted by the English, 
that the " Lord of Hosts'" had shewn himself superior to 
" the Covenant."' In the course of the night in question, 
a large body of the Scots came unexpectedly on an English 
vidette, on which Cromwell (who was never at a loss for a 
providence to fall in with his views) remarks, — " The Lord, 
by his providence, put a cloud over the moon,"" whereby 
his men escaped without injury. At the very beginning 
of the action, he says (in his dispatch to the Speaker of 
the English Parliament), " Before our foot could come up, 
the enemy made a gallant resistance, and there was a very 
hot dispute of swords between our horse and theirs. Our 
first foot, after they had discharged their duty, being over- 
powered with the enemy, received some repulse, which they 
soon recovered. But my own regiment, under the command 
of Colonel Goffe and Major White, did come seasonably in, 
and at the push of pike, did repel the stoutest regiment the 
enemy had there, merely with the courage the Lord was 
pleased to give, which proved a great amazement to the 
residue of their foot."" At this moment, the sun rose bril- 
liantly out of the German Ocean, on seeing which, Cromwell 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 81 

(equally ready with a text of Scripture, as with a providen- 
tial interposition), exclaimed, " Let God arise, and let his 
enemies be scattered!"' and at the same time galloped into 
the thick of the battle. Let it suffice to say, that on the 
morning of the 8d September he gained a most complete 
victory over the Covenanted Scots, though with scarcely 
one-half their number of men. Nor was ever victory gained 
so easily, or at so small a sacrifice on the part of the victors. 
In the flight, which began in little more than an hour after 
the battle itself began, the English dragoons, as Cromwell 
himself says, " had the execution and killing of the Scots 
foot for nearly eight (now eleven) miles, leaving the whole 
distance between Dunbar and Haddington strewed with the 
dead and the dying." In the eagerness of this carnage, he 
and his immediate followers, having outstript the rest, 
stopped and sung the cxvii. Psalm, in order to give them 
time to come up (a singular interruption to so bloody an 
occupation as the slaughter of a flying enemy !) which, when 
they had done, the pursuit and " killing'" were renewed 
with fresh vigour.^ And so effectually was this work ac- 
complished, that, while the English lost only two officers, 
and about fifty men, their enemies lost nearly 4000 in killed, 
and about 10,000 in prisoners, besides all their baggage and 
artillery, and 1 5,000 stand of arms ! 

Towards the end of his dispatch, Cromwell says : — " It 
is easy to see the Lord has done this. It would do you 
good to see and hear our poor foot go up and down, making 
their boast of God. But, sir, it is in your hands, and by 
these eminent mercies, God puts it in your hands, to give 
glory to him to improve your power, and his blessings to 
your praise. We that serve you, beg of you not to own us, 
but God alone. We pray you, own his people more and 
more; for they are the chariots and horsemen of Israel. 
Disown yourselves, but own your authority ; and improve 
all, to curb the proud and the insolent, such as would dis- 
turb the tranquiUity of England, though under what specious 
pretences soever."" The evident meaning of this is — punish 
your enemies, not for your own private gratification, but 

1 Captain Hodgson's Memoirs, p. 148. 

6 



82 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

for the glory of God. But Cromwell could not see that, in 
such a case as his, the latter motive was by far the more 
objectionable of the two. 

Meanwhile the Edinburgh pulpits were resounding with 
prayers for, and promises of, a glorious victory over " the 
perfidious and blasphemous sectaries ;" " but lo !" says Dr 
Bate, " while the messengers of joy are hourly expected, 
those of grief unexpectedly appear. Lesley himself arrived 
so early as ten o'clock in the forenoon, and announced that 
all was lost.'' 

Commissioner Winram of Libberton fought in this battle, 
and was so severely wounded that he died within a few 
days. Commissioner Jaffray was also in the battle, and 
was wounded, but let him speak for himself: — " Having 
gotten three of the wounds afore-mentioned, while the fourth 
was coming to have made an end of me, the hand that drew 
it was diverted before he could bring his sword from his 
shoulder, which he was drawing with great passion to my 
throat, who was then lying on the ground, not recovered 
since my horse fell with me, he being lying on my left leg ; — - 
I say, before his stroke could come at me, in that very nick 
of time his hand was diverted, and carried to give that 
stroke to one Lauder, an officer in our army, who, at that 
very instant, being hardly pursued, ran close by him who was 
drawing the stroke at me ; and yet, for all his haste, he was 
heard to call, desiring to spare me. Thereafter, I having 
gotten quarter, and rendered my arms, was wounded by a 
thrust in the back, which made me more in danger than 
ever. Being thereby unable to walk, I was like to have 
fallen among the common soldiers ; but the Lord provided 
a gentleman who took care of me, and having mounted me 
on horseback, carried me to Major-General Lambert, and by 
his order to Broxmouth, where my wounds were very care- 
fully dressed." ^ 

" These religious people," says Cromwell, in one of his 
dispatches, " that fall in this cause, we cannot but pity and 
mourn for them, and we pray that all good men may do the 

' Diary, p. 37. The first part of this quotation affords as perfect a speci- 
men of an involved and clumsy sentence as can well be imagined. 



SEPTEMBER 1G50. 88 

same." And D'Aubigne, in his Life of that personage, 
judging of him by his own words, and not by his actions, 
says, — " Perhaps there never was a General at the head of 
an army who entertained a more cordial affection towards 
his enemies." If so, he had a singular way of shewing it. 
To pass over his conduct to the Irish, he might have dis- 
covered some other method of manifesting his affection for 
the Scots than in slaughtering them by thousands, while 
they were endeavouring to fly from his vengeance.^ 

The officers taken prisoners on this occasion were one 
Lieutenant-General (Sir James Lumsden), one Adjutant- 
General (Bickerton), Sir William Douglas, Colonels Lums- 
den and Gordon, eleven Lieutenant-Colonels, nine Majors, 
forty-seven Captains, seven Captain- Lieutenants, seventy 
Lieutenants, twelve Cornets, fourteen Quarter -masters, and 
seventy-eight Ensigns. About one-half of these,>s well as 
of the ten thousand common soldiers, were wounded ; and 
these Cromwell ordered to be left on the ground where they 
fell, to the care of those who might be disposed to carry 
them off, or to relieve them; he issuing a proclamation 
that any who chose might take them away without being 
molested, which was doubtless a convenient way of getting 
rid of so heavy an encumbrance. We are told that he 
sent a thousand of them " in a gallantry'''' to the Countess 

^ It is not perhaps generally known, that the celebrated Independent 
minister, Dr John Owen (afterwards Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, Viee- 
ehancellor of that University, and Member of Parliament for the same !) 
was, at this time, one of the chaplains of Cromwell's army in Scotland, and 
preached both at Berwick and at Edinburgh. He had been with the army in 
Ireland the year before in the same capacity. Though therefore he must 
have witnessed the inhuman butcheries of his master in both these countries, 
he does not appear to have lifted up his voice against them ; but his biogra- 
pher is pleased at being able to inform his readers of a circumstance which, 
in his eyes, was of much greater importance, namely, that by his powerful 
preaching, when at Dublin, Dr Owen produced " first convictions " in the 
minds of two of his hearers, a Major Manwaring, and a Mrs Dorothy Smith ! 
But I know not that we could have expected any thing better from the Inde- 
pendent Divine who had preached a sermon before the House of Commons, 
the day after the murder of their lawful sovereign, without denouncing it ; 
and who subsequently preached a public thanksgiving sermon for the victory 
at Worcester, over the son and successor of that sovereign ! 

^ Ci'omwelliana, p. 9 L 



84 PERSONAL HISTORY OP CHARLES IL 

of Winton ; but the other half of the prisoners he marched, 
or rather " drove, like turkies," into England, and finally 
shipped the survivors of them, to work as slaves in the 
transatlantic plantations. 

Miss Murray, whom we have already mentioned, was at 
Kinross soon after the battle, where she had an opportunity 
of relieving many of the wounded soldiers who had fled from 
Dunbar. Her interesting " Memoirs^"* state, that " she 
and her woman dressed about fourscore, employing one A. E. 
to such as were unfit for them to dress. Among the 
wounded, there were some in a sad plight, swarming with 
vermin; others, whose sores putrifying, gave a noisome 
stench." This is stated to have been on the 21st of the 
month, so that we may conceive what a wretched condition 
these unhappy men must have been in during the previous 
eighteen days. Lord Lome afterwards mentioned this deed 
of benevolence to the King, who personally thanked Miss 
Murray for it, when at Aberdeen in the February following, 
andgaveher " oOpieces" in acknowledgement of his gratitude 
for her services. I may add here, that this excellent woman 
became, in 1656, the second wife of Sir James Halkett of 
Pitferran, and had one son, who was educated at St Leonard's 
College, St Andrews. In token of her gratitude for the 
benefit he received there, she gave to the College a silver 
communion cup, which is still preserved, with the following 
inscription on it : — " This cup is dedicated to the use of 
St Leonard's College, in St Andrews, by a devout widow, 
as a free-will offering for the returne of prayer, upon the xiii. 
day of April mdclxxxl'' Lady Halkett died in 1699. 

Those of the Scottish prisoners who were able to march 
to England, were lodged on their way in churches, which, 
as may be supposed, they defiled and disfigured. White- 
lock, in his " Memorials," says, that " at their first coming 
to Newcastle, they got into the gardens, and fed so greedily 
on the raw cabbages, that they poisoned their bodies ; 1 600 
of them died, 500 more of them were sick, and 900 in 
health, who were set to work there." There is no doubt 
much truth in this statement, though it is probably ex- 
aggerated. " At Durham," says Sir Arthur Haslerigg, who 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 85 

had the charge of them, and lodged them in the Cathedral, 
*' they were so unruly, skittish, and nasty, that it is not to 
be believed. Thei/ acted rather like beasts than men, so that 
the Marshal was alloived forty m^n to clean them out every 
day /'"' The same officer adds, " many of them died, and 
few of any other disease than flux. Some were killed by 
themselves, for they were exceeding cruel one towards ano- 
ther. If a man w^as perceived to have any money, it was 
two to one he was killed before morning, and robbed ; and 
if he had any good clothes, he that wanted them, if he was 
able, would strip him and put on his clothes."*' Now, let 
it be remembered, that this was the Covenanting army, 
which had undergone a whole month's " purgation ;" and a 
mere handful of whom, because they were God's chosen 
people, were to scatter whole hosts of " perfidious sec- 
taries" ! 

In whatever manner these prisoners were really treated, 
their countrymen at home had the impression that they 
were half starved by their English conquerors, and hence 
they raised subscriptions for their relief. A proof of this 
is the following entry in the records of the Presbytery of 
St Andrews, under date October 30. 1650 :— " The Pres- 
bytery having received a letter from the Commissioners of 
the General Assembly, shewing the sad condition of our 
prisoners in England, through famine and nakedness, and 
that they, with the advice of the Committee of Estates, have 
concluded a voluntary contribution through the several con- 
gregations of this Kirk for their relief ; The Presbytery do 
appoint the intimation hereof the next Lord's day, to be 
collected the Sabbath following." And in the correspond- 
ing intimation at Cupar Fife, we read, " About 500 of them 
(the prisoners) are dead, and these who are alive are ex- 
tremely pinched with hunger, cold, and want of all com- 
fortable supplies." These unhappy men had soon after to 
exchange famine and nakedness at home for a burning sun 
and compulsory labour in a distant colony. Yet the " truly 
Christian" Cromwell, the immediate author of their cala- 
mities, was sorry for them, loved them much, pitied them, 
and even prayed for them ! 



86 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

I will now give the other letter I promised from Samuel 
Rutherford to Colonel Ker, who had fought unsuccessfully 
at Dunbar. It is dated St Andrews, 5th September : — 
" Cromwell and his [army] (I shall not say, but there may 
be, and are, several sober and godly amongst them, who 
have either joined through misinformation, or have gone 
alongst with the rest in the simplicitie of their hearts, not 
knowing any thing) fight in an unjust cause against the 
LorcPs secret ones ,• and now, to the trampling of the worship 
of God and persecuting the people of God in England and 
Ireland, he hath brought upon his score the blood of the 
people of God in Scotland. I intreat you, dear Sir, as ye 
desire to be serviceable to Jesus Christ, whose free grace 
prevented you when ye were his enemy, go on without faint- 
ing, equally eschewing all mixture with sectaries and malig- 
nants. Neither of the two shall ever be instrumental to 
save the Lord's people, or build his house ; and without 
prophesying, or speaking further than he whose I am, and 
whom I desire to serve in the gospel of his Son, shall war- 
rant, I desire to hope, and do believe, there is a glory and 
a majesty of the Prince of the kings of the earth that 
shall shine and appear in Great Britain, which shall darken 
all the glory of men, confound sectaries and malignants, and 
rejoice the spirits of the followers of the Lamb, and dazzle 
the eyes of the beholders. Sir, I suppose that God is to 
gather malignants and sectaries ere all be done, as sheaves in 
a barn-floor, and to hid the daughter of Zion arise and thresh ; 
I hope ye will mix with none of them. I am abundantly 
satisfied that our armie, through the sinfull miscarriage of 
men, hath fallen ; and dare say it is a letter and a more com- 
fortahle dispensation then if the Lord had given us the mctory^ 
and the necks of the reproachers of the way of God ; because 
he hath done it for [those reasons], 1st, More blood, blas- 
phemies, cruelty, treachery, must be upon the accounts of the 
men whose land the Lord forbade us to invade. 2d, Victory 
is such a hurdening and weighty mercy, that we hojve not strength 
to hear it as yet. 3d, That was not the army, nor Gideon's 
Three Hundereth, by whom he is to save us. We must have 
one of the Lord's carving, 4th, Our enemies on hoth sides are 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 8/ 

not enough hardened, nor we enough mortified to multitude, 
valour, and creatures. Grace, grace be with you, your 
friend and servant, in his sweet Lord Jesus. S. R." 

These are indeed singular reasons for being reconciled to 
the defeat at Dunbar, viz, — that the Scots^ army had not 
been sufficiently purged, and limited to a faithful few — that 
they were not as yet able to bear the weight of a victory — 
and that their enemies had not yet sufficiently filled up the 
measure of their iniquities to be destroyed ; but all this 
would come in good time ! Such sentiments shew the almost 
incredible hallucination and gloomy fanaticism by which 
one of the leading men among the Scots Covenanters (he has 
been emphatically called " the flower of the Kirk," and 
whose " Letters" have gone through numerous editions) 
was at this time deluded ; and one, be it remembered, who 
had lately assisted those very sectaries, whom he now de- 
nounced, in compiling the Westminster Standards of Faith ! 
He very charitably " hopes and believes" that all malign- 
ants and sectaries were soon to be " threshed by the daugh- 
ter of Zion,*" meaning himself and his party, whom he calls 
" the Lord's secret ones," but whose faults never once 
crossed his imagination ; or, if he thought they had any, it 
was only their not following up, with sufficient energy, that 
line of conduct which was the real cause of all their troubles. 
Mr Peterkin might truly say, in the motto prefixed to this 
Narrative, that " the period to which our attention is now 
directed, presents the most humiliating views of human 
nature." 

On the evening of the Sd September, the King, who was 
at Perth, was made acquainted with the result of the battle 
of Dunbar by the Marquess of Argyll, and is said to have 
felt divided between joy and grief; grief at~ the loss of so 
many of his countrymen, and at the success of Cromwell, 
his late father^s and his own implacable enemy ; and joy at 
the discomfiture of his pretended friends, but real enemies, 
the Covenanters ; but as he was still surrounded by the 
latter, his policy was to seem at least to entertain no appre- 
hensions of them, to be sorry for the loss they had sus- 
tained, and to wait patiently the issue of events. Accord- 



88 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

ing to Mr John Canne, an English Independent,^ " No 
sooner did the Scots king hear of the loss of their army, 
but he protested he was glad of it ; and, falling down on 
his knees, gave great thanks in the presence of all about 
him, that they were destroyed."*' On the other hand, we 
find among Charles's state papers the following address to 
the Committee of Estates, which he found it expedient 
to make to them a few days after tli^e battle : — " We can- 
not but acknowledge that the stroke and trial is very hard 
to be borne, and would be impossible for us and you, in 
human strength ; but in the Lord's we are bold and confi- 
dent, who hath always defended this ancient kingdom, and 
hath transmitted the government of it upon us from so 
many worthy predecessors, who, in the like difiiculties, have 
not fainted. A nd they had only tho honour and civil liberty 
of the land to defend ; but we have with you, religion, the 
gospel, and the Covenant, against which hell shall not pre- 
vail, much less a number of sectaries stirred up by it. We 
acknowledge that what hath befallen is just from God for 
our sins, and these of our house, and the whole land ; and 
all the families in it have likewise helped to pull down the 
judgment, and kindle this fierce wrath. We shall strive 
to be humbled that the Lord may be appeased, and that 
he may return to the thousands of his people, and comfort 
us according to the days we have been afflicted, and the 
years that we have seen evil."^ 

Events afterwards shewed that it needed a far less power 
than " hell" to prevail against the Covenant, which, it is 
well known, died a natural death at the Revolution of 1688, 
without even an effort being made to save it. 

But if Charles felt regret at the loss of the battle of 
Dunbar, he was much more grieved, very soon after it, at" 
hearing of the death of his sister, the Princess Elizabeth, 
who expired in the hands of her fathers murderers, at 

1 In a scarce pamphlet by this writer, called " Emanuel, wherein is set 
forth England's late victory over the Scots army at Dunbar, London, printed 

Iby M S , next door to the Golden Lion, in Aldersgate Street, 1650.'* 

Canne was also the author of " Marginal Notes on the Bible." 

"^ Thurloe's State Papers, i. p. 163. 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 89 

Oarisbrook Castle, on the 8th day of this month, in the 
fifteenth year of her age. And not long after, he received 
another shock, from learning the death of his brother-in- 
law, the Prince of Orange, who had always been one of his 
steadiest supporters. 

To counterbalance these afflictions, the defeat of the 
Covenanters |t Dunbar operated in some respects benefi- 
cially for him ; for the nation at large began now to look 
to him as their chief hope, in proportion as they lost confi- 
dence in their former rulers ; and this induced the latter to 
be more respectful in their behaviour towards him than 
they had been before. They admitted him to some of their 
private consultations ; and they even went so far as to issue 
orders in his name, when they found they had a greater 
effect than when issued in their own. And, moreover, they 
allowed some of his personal friends and members of his 
household to return to him, whom they had dismissed from 
his service, and threatened to banish from the country. 

Immediately after this victory, Cromwell marched back 
his army to Edinburgh, which he found abandoned by the 
Scots soldiery (except the Castle, which was still occupied 
by a garrison), and took up the positions lately possessed 
by General Lesley. Had he even marched to Stirling, he 
would probably have found as little difficulty in capturing 
it in the then distracted state of the country. Three citi- 
zens came out of the Metropolis to make their submission 
to the conqueror, in the name of the rest, viz., Dr Purvis, 
Mr Robert Trotter, advocate, and Mr John Poke, cordiner. 
In the Castle, the Presbyterian ministers, Messrs Hamilton, 
Smith, Gowan, Low, and Traill, had taken refuge ; but 
Cromwell invited them back to their charges, assuring them 
that they should not be disturbed in their ministrations. 
Doubting his sincerity, however, they replied, that " they 
found nothing expressed from whence they might infer se- 
curity of their persons, and therefore they resolved to re- 
serve themselves for better times, and meantime wait upon 
him who had hidden his face from the sons of Jacobs To 
this Cromwell returned for answer, that it did not become 
them to be so very careful of their persons, if they were as 



90 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U, 

zealous for the service of their Divine Master as they pro- 
fessed to be ; and as to Grod's hiding his face from " the 
sons of Jacob," as they were pleased to call themselves, it 
was not to be wondered at, seeing that they had espoused 
the cause of a family against whom the Lord had so evi- 
dently lifted up his hand.^ Finding, however, that his re- 
newed assurances of protection were unavailing, he filled 
their pulpits with those officers of his army who were 
thought fo possess the " gift of prophecy," though it was 
alleged that some of them were distinguished more for their 
gifts than for their graces. These men mounted the pulpits 
in full military costume, with pistols in their belts, and 
swords by their sides, to the great astonishment of their 
Scots audiences, who had never before witnessed any thing 
of the kind. Against this intrusion into their places the 
ministers in the Castle remonstrated, on the plea that " men 
of secular calling were usurping the office of the ministry, 
to the scandal of the Reformed Churches." This was an 
argument that was not likely to have much weight with 
Cromwell, who had his own ideas of " reformation." " Are 
ye troubled," he replied, " that Christ is preached ? Does 
this scandalize the Reformed Kirks, and Scotland in parti- 
cular ? Is it against the Covenant ? Away with the Cove- 
nant, if it be so. I thought the Covenant and these men 
would have been willing that any should speak good of the 
name of Christ ; if not, it is no Covenant of God"'s approv- 
ing, nor is the Kirk you mention so much the spouse of 
Christ." As to men of secular callings usurping the office 
of the ministry, he might have alleged that their own " call- 
ing" was a merely human affair, having originated at 
Geneva not a hundred years before ; and that, moreover, his 
officers had as good a right to preach, as Presbyterian 
ministers had to take upon themselves the part of military 
advisers, which they had lately done at Dunbar, when they 
urged Leslie, contrary to his own opinion, to abandon his 
strong position, and to make an attack upon the English. 
Whitelock asserts that these men, in their prayers to God 

1 Cromwell's letters to the Presbyterian ministers are said to have been 
composed by Dr John Owen, his chaplain. 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 91 

at this time, said, that " if he would not deliver them from 
the sectaries, he should no longer be their God ;" but this 
is perhaps a calumny. 

I may here mention that the Castle of Edinburgh fell into 
the hands of the conqueror in the course of this year, not- 
withstanding that the above named ministers were praying 
at the time of the siege, in one of the low vaults of that 
fortress. They would have acted more wisely had they fol- 
lowed the advice of the English Greneral, and gone into the 
town to preach to their congregations. 

On the 12th September, the Commission of the Assem- 
bly, or rather those members of it who had contrived to 
escape from Dunbar, and meet at Stirling, no ways as yet 
sensible of their errors, but rather growing more confirmed 
in them, were perplexed to account to their countrymen for 
the recent defeat, seeing they had made them so sure of a 
victory. After some very irreverent expostulations in their 
public prayers to the Deity, about " the great loss he him- 
self would sustain by suffering his elect to be destroyed," 
and about " the great hardship of having to fight for him, 
when he would not fight for himself," they put out a state- 
ment, at the beginning of which they say, " They must not 
be silent to declare the mind of God, nor must others re- 
fuse to hearken thereto." They make no doubt about their 
knowing " the mind of God ;" and yet Cromwell was equally 
sure he knew it too, though it was quite an opposite " mind" 
from theirs. However, they admit their own sins, and those 
of the nobility, and the nation generally; but they add, 
" It concerns the King to mourn for all the grievous provo- 
cations of his father'' s house^ and for all his own guiltiness ; 
and to consider if he hath come into the Covenant, and 
joined himself to the Lord, upon political interests, and for 
giving a crown to himself, rather than to advance religion 
and righteousness ; and that this is an iniquity that God 
will not forget, unless it be speedily repented of." Having 
thus made the poor King, as usual, the scapegoat for the 
consequences of their own infatuation, and after abusing 
the army of " perfidious and blasphemous sectaries," they 
turn round once more on their old enemies the " Malign- 



92 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

ants." " We would not think that all clanger from the 
Malignants is now gone, seeing that there are a great many 
such in the land, who still retain their former principles ; 
and therefore we would, with as much watchfulness and 
tenderness as we can, avoid their snares, and beware of com- 
pliance and conjunction with them."' " Doubtless our own 
safety is in holding fast our former principles, and keeping 
a straight path, without declining to the right hand or to 
the left;' 

The language and behaviour of these religionists exhibit 
a very melancholy view of human nature, and shew what 
strange hallucinations men are liable to fall into, when left 
to " eat the fruit of their own ways, and to be filled with 
their own desires.'' I consider that it is only in this view 
that I am justified in going so much into detail on this 
point, one of the great objects of history being to warn 
us of the moral dangers we ourselves are liable to fall into. 
Cromwell, who saw clearly enough their error, but could 
not see his own, had well said to the ministers in Edin- 
burgh Castle, " Is it infallibly agreeable to the word of 
God all that you say? I beseech you, in the bowels of 
Jesus Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken. Pre- 
cept may be upon precept, line may be upon line, and yet 
the word of the Lord may be to some a word of judgment, 
that they may fall backward, and be broken, and be snared, 
and be taken." 

The next measure in the order of events deserving of no- 
tice is, that the above mentioned Commission of the General 
Assembly ordered that Sunday, the 15th of this month, 
should be kept as a day of humiliation for the defeat of 
their army, and that thirteen reasons of the divine displeasure 
should be publicly read in all their congregations. They 
were in substance as follows : — 

1. The nation's profaneness. 

2. The provocations of the King's house, which have not 
yet been sufficiently repented of; together with the 
crooked and corrupt ways that were taken by sundry 
among us for carrying on the treaty with the King at 
Breda. 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 93 

3. The number of Malignants who came into Scotland 
with the King. 

4. The insufficient purging of the King's household from 
malignant and profane men. 

5. A profane guard of King's horse who arrived two days 
before the battle, and was suffered to fight in the 
army.i 

6. The slackness of many in purging the judicatories and 
the army of all malignant persons. 

7. The great diffidence of some leaders in the army, who 
thought they could not conquer but with a greater 
force ; and the carnal confidence of others, who de 
pended too much on themselves. 

8. The little or no care taken of the necessaries of life, 
whereby the poor were left destitute; and also the 
misconduct of the army in this respect some years be- 
fore, when fighting for the English Parliament. 

9. Unthankfulness for past mercies. 

10. Owning the King's interest, without subordination to 
religion. 

11. The carnal self seeking of many. 

12. ^ot distinguishing between those who served God, and 
those who did not serve him. 

13. Neglect of family duties and mutual edification. 
And then they sum up the whole with expressing their 

renewed resolution to adhere to " the cause and Covenant 
of God," and not to comply with Malignants, on the one 
hand, nor with Sectaries, on the other. 

Tt w^ill be curious to contrast with the foregoing reasons 
for the failure of the Scots army at Dunbar, the sarcastic 
observations of Mr John Canne, the English Independent, 
in reference to the same subject. It will then appear, that 
if I have been somewhat severe against the Covenant and 
the Covenanters, I, at least, come far short of him. 

" Another proof," says this writer, " of God's witnessing 
against them is, that their prophets have seen vain and 
foolish thoughts, and by good Avords and fair speeches have 
deceived the minds of the simple, whereby they have brought 

^ This was the only part of the army which had fought with any bravery. 



94 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

the guilt of much blood upon their own heads. Such as do 
receive their carnal doctrines, are driven into a kind of 
fury and madness, acting strange things, prejudicial and 
destructive to the people amongst whom they live. This is 
to be added, as a public manifestation of God's just hand 
against their unrighteous cause, to- wit, what this army was 
which the Lord by weakness overthrew — (namely), all Co- 
mnanters^ — no Malignants, Sectaries, or Papists ; an army, 
in point of Covenant-reformation, like the Spanish Armada 
in 1588, inmncihle ; and indeed much glorying there was in 
this reformed army having none in it but subscribers to the 
Covenant ; and the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, 
being likewise among them — their enemies (on the con- 
trary) vain men, and children of Belial, with whom were 
the golden calves, which the [English] Parliament had 
made, and whose head [Cromwell] was the great anti- 
christ; so that the foolish and ignorant people did fully 
believe that there would be little need for them to fight ; 
but, standing still, they should see their enemies flee before 
them. Neither was it without a special providence of God 
that our word should be, ' The Lord of Hosts," theirs, ' The 
Covenant.' Here now lay the great cause betwixt us and 
them; tlie^ for the Covenant, we for the Lord of Hosts. 
And as the cause thus stood betwixt us, so the Lord, by a 
mighty hand, gave a remarkable witness from heaven on 
whose side the truth and right were. For as Dagon fell 
when the ark came near it, so fell the Covenant, as another 
Dagon, at the presence of the Lord of Hosts. Since this 
great victory, some of the Presbyterian ministers have 
openly declared that there was an Achan in the Scots army. 
It is true, there was so indeed, but what was that Achan ? 
Seeing they tell us not, I shall do it for them. The cursed 
thing, I take it, was the Covenant. This should have been 
destroyed ; and therefore seeing their cause was the Cove- 
nant, and the Covenant anathema^ no marvel that they fell 
in the day of battle." 

Mr Canne then goes on to give some reasons why the 
Covenant could not stand, which may be abridged 
thus : — 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 95 

1. It is a " common stnmipet," wandering up and down 
in search of victims. 

2. It suppresses the church and people of God, and the 
gifts of the Spirit. 

3. It is " one of the things which God hates, and is an 
abomination to him, because it is a false witness that 
speaketh lies, and soweth discord among brethren." 

4. It is a mad dog, biting when it should not, and a dumb 
dog, not barking when it should. 

5. It is the image which fell down from Jupiter, like the 
" Great Diana of the Ephesians." 

6. It makes men hypocrites and liars. 

7. It strengthens men in formality, profaneness, and 
looseness of life. 

Having thus characterised the Covenant, he finally de- 
signates the Covenanters " an hypocritical nation, dis- 
semblers in their hearts, an assembly of treacherous men ; 
of mockers, such as would deceive every man his neighbour, 
and would not speak the truth, but teach their tongues to 
speak lies, and wearied themselves to commit iniquity ; sons, 
not of Jacob, but of the Sorceress, children of transgression, 
a seed of falsehood, of the adulterer and the whore." 

But we must now go back to the " thirteen reasons" of 
the divine displeasure against the nation, issued by the 
Commission of the Assembly. They were felt by some of 
the Presbyterians themselves to be so stringent, and by 
others perhaps so inapplicable and even ridiculous, that 
they produced a reaction, which, though slight at first, gave 
rise to two parties in the Kirk, and grew into a factious 
opposition, even within the very short period I am now re- 
viewing, — an opposition which, after undergoing various 
changes, and assuming dififerent names, during the last two 
hundred years, has recently burst into a flame, which there 
seems at present no prospect of subduing. 

I have already said that the Commission of the Assembly 
was a small but permanent body of ministers and elders, who 
represented the larger Assembly, which met only once a-year. 
So objectionable did the " reasons" appear to many, that 



96 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

in a number of the parishes, the ministers refused to read 
them from their pulpits ; alleging that " five or six men 
were too bold to give out reasons to a whole church, with- 
out a fuller attendance of their brethren." But instead of 
complaining of those men, it would perhaps have been more 
to the purpose if they had called in question and corrected 
that part of the constitution of their Kirk which gave the 
power to so small a body of acting as they had done. Mr 
James Wood, in particular, who had been one of the Com- 
missioners at Breda, was displeased because the second 
reason asserted, that " crooked and corrupt ways were taken 
by sundry among us for carrying on the treaty with the 
King." Offended at this insinuation, which he took to him- 
self, he set off in great haste from St Andrews to Stirling, 
to demand an explanation ; but the members of the Com- 
mission soon found means to pacify him, by altering the 
words, so as to limit their application to the lay Commis- 
sioners, who were obliged to submit to the charge as they 
best could. The Earls of Oassillis and Lothian, however, 
remonstrated against this imputation on their conduct, but 
they do not seem to have got any redress. In truth, the 
accusation was not altogether unfounded, as we have seen 
in the Introduction to this Narrative. At any rate, this was 
the first time, since the outbreak of the Rebellion, that the 
infallibility of the Assembly's Commission had been called 
in question, or its words challenged, by the Presbyterians 
of Scotland. 

Cromwell, all this time, had been marching detachments 
of his army between Edinburgh, Falkirk, and Linlithgow, 
but owing to various causes, without attempting to make 
any impression upon his enemies. On the 29th September, 
an Englishman of the name of Stapleton preached in the 
High Church of Edinburgh, before Cromwell and his officers, 
and a large concourse of hearers ; for the Presbyterian 
ministers continued to shut themselves up in the Castle. 
'• Many Scots," says the contemporaneous account, " ex- 
pressed much affection at the doctrine preached by Mr 
Stapleton, in their usual way of groans ; and it's hoped a 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 97 

good work is wrought in some of their hearts." i To the 
same effect an Englishman writes, early in the following 
month : — " In Edinburgh and other places, the Scots come 
to hear our ministry, and they make such a groaning noise 
in the times of prayer, as I never saw ; but it seems it is 
the custom of the people here to do so." 

It appears to have been about this time that the Marquis 
of Argyll proposed to the King to marry one of his daughters, 
thus virtually making her Queen of England, Scotland, and 
Ireland ! He told Charles that " he could not serve him as 
he desired, unless he gave some undeniable proof of a fixed 
resolution to support the Presbyterian party, which he 
thought would be best done by marrying into some family 
of quality that was known to be entirely attached to that 
interest ; this, he thought, would, in a great measure, take 
off the prejudice both kingdoms had to him on his mother's 
account, who was extremely odious to all good Protestants ; 
and he thought his own daughter would be the properest 
match for him ; not without some threats if he did not ac- 
cept the offer, as the King told Colonel Legge, who was the 
only person about him that he could trust with the secret. 
The Colonel said it was plain that the Marquis looked upon 
his Majesty to be absolutely in his power, or he durst not 
have made such a proposal ; and that, therefore, it would 
be necessary to gain time, till he could get out of his hands, 
by telling him that, in common decency, he could come to no 
conclusion in an affair of that nature, before he had acquaint- 
ed the Queen his mother with it, who was always known to 
have a very particular esteem for the Marquis and his 
family, but would never forgive such an omission. But that 
was an answer far from satisfying the Marquis, who sus- 
pected Colonel Legge had been the adviser ; and he com- 
mitted him next day to the Castle of Edinburgh, where he 
continued till the King made his escape from St Johnstoun 
[Perth], upon which he was released, — the Marquis then 

' Cromwelliana, p. 92. There was a Colonel Stapleton in the English army, 
some of whose letters are given in " Gary's Memorials.'' I have no doubt it 
was the same person who preached on this occasion. 

7 



98 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

finding it necessary to give the King more satisfaction than 
he had done before that tinie."i 

What is meant by the " King''s escape from Perth" we 
shall see presently; but we may observe here, that the 
Queen-mother, though she had all along favoured Argyll 
and his party, did not relish this marriage any more than 
her son ; and the messenger who had been sent to consult 
her on the subject, was so long in returning with an answer, 
that a change of events had by that time raised insur- 
mountable obstacles to the match. Charles, however, con- 
soled the Marquis, by promising (in a document dated 
24th September), that, in the event of his restoration to the 
throne of England, he would make him a Duke, a Knight 
of the Garter, and a Gentleman of his Bed-chamber, and 
see him paid a large sum of money which was said to be 
due to him. Circumstances, however, it is well known, 
occurred in the interval, which led Charles's advisers to 
recommend, after the Restoration, that the Marquis should 
be rewarded in a manner somewhat less agreeable to him. 
But to return from this digression. 

The Committee of the Kirk and State now proceeded to 
add a further indignity to their unhappy monarch. J have 
stated that some of the royal suite, who had at first been 
ordered out of the country, were permitted to remain, on 
condition of retiring from Court, and having no personal 
intercourse with the King, and that, after the battle of 
Dunbar, a few of these had been allowed to return to him. 
But now this favour was to be withdrawn, as if his overseers 
were afraid of spoiling him by overmuch indulgence. The 
ministers, by their prayers and sermons on the late Fast-day, 
had persuaded their hearers that his Majesty had too many 
malignants about his person, — for, in all cases of this kind, 
they found it expedient first to secure the concurrence of 
the people, — and, therefore, under the plea of " purging his 

^ Lord Dartmouth's Notes on Burnet's History of his Own Times. Writers 
of the covenanting school gravely tell us, that the King wanted to marry one 
of Argyll's daughters, but that the father refused to have so profligate a youth 
for his son-in-law ! 



SEPTEMBER 1650. 99 

household," they demanded the removal from his Court, of 
^' all profane, scandalous, malignant, and disaffected persons, 
and that their place should be filled with those that were 
pious and well affected to the cause and Covenant, and who 
have not opposed the same by their counsels and their 
actions." These were vague expressions, and might be inter- 
preted so as to exclude all, however innocent, who were ob- 
noxious to the ruling party, and include all, however disloyal 
and fanatical, who were agreeable to them. Accordingly, an 
order came from the Committee of Estates, dated 27th 
September, that the following persons should leave the 
Court within twenty-four hours, and the kingdom within 
twenty days, viz., the French Marquis Villaneuffe, Lords 
Cleveland, Wentworth, Grandison, Wilmot, Widdrington, 
and St Paul, Sir Ed. Walker, Sir P. Musgrave, Sir F. 
Fortescue, Mr Long, Mr Progers, Col. Darcey, &;c., twenty- 
four in number. The order stated, that Colonel Sir John 
Brown, and the officers of his Majesty's Life Guard, were 
" to put this present act into execution, with certification 
to all and every of the aforesaid persons, that if they fail 
to give obedience hereunto, the said Sir J. Brown is to 
apprehend them in any place within the shires where they 
shall be ; and the officers of the Foot Guard to seize upon 
them within the verge of the Court, to be disposed upon as 
the Committee shall think fit." The civil execution of this 
order was committed to Sir James Balfour, Lyon-King-at- 
Arms, who thus himself relates the circumstance : — " I re- 
ceived this aforesaid letter at my own house of Kinnaird, 
about 9 o'clock in the morning, on Thursday the 3d of Octo- 
ber, and was at Perth about 12 o'clock the same day; and 
after I had kissed his Majesty's hand, I shewed him my 
message. He desired me to forbear making intimation to 
nine of them, which he marked with a long score in the 
roll, until he spoke with the Lord Chancellor, to whom, and 
the Committee, he had written to spare these until the 
sitting down of the Parliament, but desired me to go on 
with the rest of them. That same night, at 9 o'clock, the 
Chancellor came to Perth, and spoke with the King on 
Friday morning, and brought him a letter from the Com- 



100 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

mittee of Estates, containing an absolute refusal to suffer 
any of these persons sent to me in list, to stay about his 
person or Court ; so I went on and made intimation to all, 
either by word or w^rit, conform to the act and missive of 
the Committee of Estates directed to me." 

Notwithstanding the stringency of this order, we find 
that on the 11th of the same month, the Lords Cleveland. 
Wentworth, Widdrington, and Wilmot, presented a peti- 
tion to the Estates, praying that they might be permitted 
to stay in the country, till they either got a pass from 
Cromwell to go to England, or procure money to transport 
themselves to the Continent. These four noblemen finally 
got leave to remain for an indefinite period, and accom- 
panied the royal army into England in the following year. 
In fact, the tide of prejudice against " malignants'"* began 
to turn soon after this time, and the presence of a few of 
the King's most necessary attendants was first connived at, 
and finally approved. 

The greater part of the royal suite were, however, sum- 
marily dismissed, and obliged to find their way to the Con- 
tinent as they best could ; and among these was Sir Edward 
Walker, to whose " Journal of Afiairs" I am indebted for 
some of the foregoing facts, but who, from this time, could 
not of course furnish any thing from his own personal testi- 
mony. Bnt it will be right to give here the concluding- 
words of his Journal, because it describes the situation in 
which he left his unfortunate master in the beginning of 
October : — " He is outwardly served and waited on with all 
fitting ceremonies due to a king, but in his liberty, not 
much above a prisoner ; Centinels being every night set 
about his lodging, few daring to speak freely or privately 
to him, and spies set on his words and actions. His bed- 
chamber is not free to himself, the Ministers almost daily 
thrusting in upon him to catechise and instruct him, and, 
I believe, to exact repetitions from him. In a word, he 
knows nothing of their counsels, either military or civil, but 
what they please to communicate to him. To conclude, 
therefore, except these men change their principles, or that 
God raise his Majesty other friends, he shall at the best be 



OCTOBER 1650. 101 

but the shadow of a King, without power or authority to de- 
fend himself, or protect his subjects." ^ 

This cruel and unreasonable conduct of the Covenanters, 
led Charles to enter into a confederacy with some of his 
friends, chiefly in the Highlands, who pitied his condition, 
and were anxious to do what they could for his deliverance. 
These friends consisted partly of the 80 officers and 4000 
men who had been " purged" out of the Presbyterian army 
previous to the battle of Dunbar ; and nearly all of whom, 
we may observe, were Episcopalians by religion, or rather 
would have been, had they been allowed the free exercise 
of their religion, which they were not, any more than the 
King. On the very day the order had been issued for the 
dismissal of the royal suite from the Court and kingdom, 
Charles \\Tote the following letter, partly in cypher, to the 

Duke of Hamilton : — " I have at last resolved that 

(cyphers) — by the (cyphers). — You will receive the 

particulars from (cypher) — and (cypher), and the 

reasons of it. I shall desire you to be thinking of preparing 

yourself (cyphers) — for to get you (cyphers). — 

And for fear that our masters should have some design 
against your person, which I am very much concerned for, 
I intreat you therefore to have a great care of that ; and 
be assured that in what condition soever I am in, I will ever 
be your most affectionate friend." 

Charles had reason, at this time, to be apprehensive for 
his personal safety, and is said to have had even secret in- 
formation conveyed to him, that his enemies were plotting 
to sell him to Cromwell, as " the accursed thing that troubled 
their Israel ;" in which case, there could be little doubt as 
to what would be his fate. One evidence of this is, that 
when James Guthrie, the minister of Stirling, was tried after 
the Restoration (and executed for high treason), he was ac- 
cused of having recommended that, at this very time, Charles 
should be imprisoned in Stirling Castle ; and when some one 
said to him, that " it would be as well to take his life as im- 
prison him," he replied, '' that the time had not yet come to 
do that, for that the one must be done before the other." 

^ Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses upon several occasions, folio, 
1705, p. 195. 



102 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

In the 5th volume of Evelyn's Memoirs are four letters 
written by Charles to as many of his friends, and all dated 
St Johnstoun [Perth], 2d October, from which it would ap- 
pear that (though they contain no distinct reference to his 
then position, which he would naturally avoid writing about), 
he was desirous of providing for himself and his friends, in 
the event of some foreseen, though undefined, contingency. 
In one of these, addressed to a Mr Hinton, he desires that 
a sum of money may be borrowed, and be " speedily sent 
into Holland"' for his use. In another to a Mrs Twisden, 
he requests that " the George and seals left me by my blessed 
father'' may be delivered to the bearer of the letter. In the 
third, to Sir John Greenville, who was Governor of Scilly, he 
directs him to " have a body of men in a readiness to coun- 
tenance any attempt that shall be made by my good subjects 
in the west." And in the fourth, to Sir Kichard Grenville, 
who was one of the late King's general officers, and uncle 
of the above, he instructs him to " keep yourself in readi- 
ness for my employments when it shall be seasonable." Who 
the two first of these friends were, and where they lived, I 
know not ; but it is probable that the letters addressed to 
them, were to be conveyed by some individuals of the King's 
suite who were about to leave him ; and they seem to have 
an obscure reference to the flight which he was then medi- 
tating, in order to escape from the personal violence which 
he dreaded from the Covenanters. 

Sir E. Walker was obliged to leave the King on the 4th 
October. But he has given us some particulars of his flight 
to the Highlands, which he subsequently got from the few 
personal attendants who were still permitted to remain 
with him. He informs us, that there were " about 60 of the 
chief of the nobility, 1000 gentlemen, and above 10,000 
others, that were engaged to establish his Majesty in his just 
authority, and to pursue his lawful interest ; and the time 
and circumstances were so well stated, as that nothing but 
a fatality could have hindered it." The letters to the King's 
supporters regarding this interprise, had been written at 
Dudhope Castle, near Dundee, by his two Secretaries, Long 
and Oudart. Only three of his household were at first 



OCTOBER 1650. 103 

made acquainted with his intentions, namely, his physician, 
and two gentlemen of his bed-chamber ; and the 3d October 
was the day fixed for the enterprise. He was to have 
crossed the Bridge of Earne near Perth, and joined some 
of the nobility and gentry in Fife, who were ready to re- 
ceive him with a party of horse. A strong body of Athole 
Highlanders were to seize Perth, and imprison the Com- 
mittee of Kirk and State. The Marquis of Huntly, the 
Earl of Airlie and his son, the Earl Marischall, and Gene- 
ral Middleton (afterwards Earl of Middleton), the com- 
mander of their forces, together with Viscount Dudhope, 
and the public authorities of Dundee, were to be on the 
alert, and prepared to co-operate ; and, I may observe here, 
that so well prepared were the royal party in Fife, that as 
soon as they heard of the King's escape from Perth, a con- 
siderable number of them assembled in Dundee, and were 
on their way to join him, when, to their extreme mortifica- 
tion, they received the intelHgence of his surrender. 

The King had communicated his design to the Duke of 
Buckingham, who had not been ordered to quit the Court, 
owing to his close alliance with the Covenanters ; and also 
to Lord Wilmot, who, though included in the order to de- 
part, had not yet gone, and was afterwards permitted to 
remain. These noblemen represented to the King, in such 
strong terms, the risk incurred both to himself and to his 
friends, by such an enterprise, and the small chance there 
was of ultimate success, that they succeeded in persuading 
him to give it up, for the time at least, and to send messen- 
gers to acquaint his coadjutors with his change of purpose. 
This deranged the whole plan, and caused its failure when 
attempted. For the very same day, the King changed his 
mind, and conceived there was yet time enough to follow 
out his first intention ; but he resolved to go into Angus, 
instead of Fife, that he might be in a place of greater safety, 
and nearer to his Highland supporters. " On the 4th 
October," says Balfour, " the King's Majesty, as if going 
on hawking, went away from St Johnstoun [Perth] on horse- 
back, about half-an-hour past one in the afternoon, accom- 
panied only with these following servants, Henry Seymour, 



104 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

a Groom of his Bed-chamber, Mr Rodes, Mr Andrew Cole, 
and Mr Thomas Windham, three gentlemen of his stable, 
with Mr Cartwright, a Groom of his Privy Chamber, without 
any change of clothes or linens more than was on his body, in 
a thin riding suit of stuff.'' He rode gently across the South 
Inch of Perth, and then galloped till he came opposite 
Inchyra, at which place he crossed the river Tay. With- 
out stopping, he proceeded till he reached Dudhope Castle. 
On the road he met with his friend Lord Balcarras, who, 
by the King's desire, proceeded to Perth, and reported to 
the Committee there, that he was merely gone north to 
raise troops for the defence of the country. At Dudhope 
he found the Earl of Lauderdale, who, at the King's request, 
immediately sent for the Earl of Crawford, one of his Fife 
supporters; but before he arrived, he had proceeded to 
Auchterhouse, belonging to the Earl of Buchan, another 
of his friends. One account says, that Colonel Montgomery, 
a younger son of the Earl of Eglinton, and one of General 
Lesley's officers, overtook him at Dudhope Castle ; and 
there waiting upon him, entreated him upon his knees to 
return with him to Perth, which Charles positively refused 
to do. From Auchterhouse, accompanied by Lords Buchan 
and Dudhope, he went on to Cortachy Castle, the seat of the 
Earl of Airlie. This last mentioned nobleman, Balfour is 
pleased to call " an excommunicated papist." It was true- 
he had been excommunicated by the Kirk for having, under 
the Marquis of Montrose, at the battle of Kilsyth, fought 
against, and signally defeated, the Covenanters ; but as to 
his religion, he was a staunch Episcopalian, which his de- 
scendants continue to be to this day. Little as Charles 
had carried with him from Perth, he had taken two prayer- 
books ; and, what seems remarkable, a MS. containing 
some of Euclid's problems. These he left behind him when 
he quitted Cortachy, and they are still preserved by the 
family as valuable relics. The Earl of Airlie and his son 
Lord Ogilvy,^ with about sixty of their feudal attendants^ 

1 This was the Lord Ogilvy who had made his escape, four years before, 
from the Castle of St Andrews, by exchanging clothes with his sister ; had it 
not been for which,, he would have been executed for his connexion with 
Montrose. 



OCTOBER 1650. 105 

accompanied the King, early next morning, as far as Clova, 
a village far back among the Grampian Hills, where he 
hoped to meet the Marquis of Huntly and his clan. 

Meanwhile, the utmost consternation prevailed at Perth, 
in consequence of the sudden flight of the King. The 
Presbyterians not only feared losing possession of his per- 
son, but perhajjs they also feared being attacked by two 
armies at once; by Cromwell in the south, and by the 
Highlanders in the north, headed by the King himself. The 
Lord Chancellor Loudon immediately secured the town of 
Perth, by closing the gates, and assembled as many of the 
Committee of Kirk and State as he could, to consider what 
ought to be done. The result of their deliberations was, 
that they resolved to send a deputation of their body, con- 
sisting of the Earls of Lothian and Dunfermhne, Sir Chas. 
Erskine, and the Rev. Mr Durham, to the King, to allay 
his fears for his personal safety, and to try by all means to 
prevail on him to come back. " There was written a mild 
and discreet letter, beseeching his Majesty to return from 
that evil way he had taken, which might prove destructive 
to himself, his posterity, and kingdom, if he did not speedily 
return. The Commissioners had ten articles of instructions 
given to them, which they were to manage according as 
necessity should require." But these instructions were 
superseded by the King's unexpected return. 

When Charles reached Clova,^ instead of finding an army 
of Highlanders, as he expected, he found only the Colonel 
Montgomery already mentioned, with a party of horse — a 
brave but undecided officer, half royalist, half Covenanter. 
The King, knowing his doubtful character, hesitated whe- 
ther he should confide in him ; but while he was deliberat- 
ing, Montgomery came up and told him, that if he chose 
to go on, he would not hinder him ; but that if he would 
return with him to Perth, he would pledge his honour for 
his safety, and either put him in a better position than he 

1 Charles's having been at this remote village, among the Grampian Hills, 
is the only event that ever gave it celebrity ; and yet the description of the 
parish in the " Statistical Account of Scotland" takes no notice whatever of 
the fact ! 



106 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

had been in before, or die at his feet. The master falconer, 
Sir Alexander Hope, came up about the same time, and 
gave his Majesty the same assurance. The King was the 
more inclined to listen to this proposal, not only because 
he was promised to have better treatment, and to enjoy 
more freedom than he had experienced before, but because 
two bodies of Presbyterian horse, amounting together to 
about 600, had come up, in the course of the day, in pur- 
suit of him, and because he had not found the Highland 
force at Clova which he had been taught to expect ; though, 
at the same time, he was assured, that if he would advance 
farther north, he would find 5000 foot and 2000 horse ready 
to obey any orders he might give them. " So," says Sir 
E. Walker, " the King, either overcome with importunity, 
or seeing no visible power to resist, and distracted with 
variety of opinions, put himself into Montgomery"'s hands, 
who likewise passed his word for the security of all the 
rest" — meaning the Ogilvys and others who had joined 
him in the course of his flight. These, however, thought 
that they would best consult their own safety by remaining 
where they were for the present. Montgomery conveyed 
the King, the same day, to Castle Huntly, in the Carse of 
Gowrie ; and the next day, being Sunday., the Perth Com- 
missioners, when they learned he was so near, went to meet 
him, and brought him back to the town. He arrived too 
late for the afternoon service of the Kirk ; but the Commis- 
sioners, unwilling that he should lose the benefit of a ser- 
mon^ took care to provide a minister, who delivered one to 
him in his own apartment, and probably gave him a severe 
lecture or grave rebuke for his rashness in trying to escape 
out of their hands. 

Charles pretended to feel great regret for having taken 
his recent step ; but whether he really felt any or not, it is 
certain that more favour was shewn to him afterwards than 
had been before ; among the proofs of which, he was per- 
mitted to be present at all the subsequent meetings of the 
Committee of Estates. The Presbyterians were afraid of 
losing him, and they tried to make his condition more 
agreeable to him, that they might induce him to remain. 



OCTOBER 1650. 107 

This shews that it was expediency, and not disinterested 
loyalty, which had prompted them to bring him to Scot- 
land ; for if it had been the latter principle, they would 
have behaved dutifully to him from the beginning, and un- 
der all circumstances. 

At the meeting which was held in Perth immediately 
after his return from his " start" (as it has been called), 
Charles expressed his sincere compunction for having been 
misled, " at the late unhappy business, which befel him 
through the evil counsels of some who had deceived both 
him and themselves ; and expressed his hope in God that 
it would hereafter prove useful both to him and them, for 
rendering their confidence in each other more firm and 
efficient ;" adding, that " he had requested his Chancellor 
to declare his mind more fully, in respect that he was not 
a very good orator himself." The Chancellor then pro- 
ceeded to relate, at some length, the circumstances of the 
" start," dwelling upon the false representations that had 
been made to the King ; and, to the best of his power, en- 
deavouring to relieve him from the awkward position in 
which he was placed. ^ Charles himself finished by saying, 
'' that, as he teas a Christian^ lohen he first icent out that he had 
no mind to depart ; and he trusted in Cod it would be a les- 
son to him all the days of his life." Nothing could excuse 
this duplicity on the part of Charles ; but it should be re- 
membered that the persons who prevailed on him to put his 
hand to the Solemn League and Covenant, and to the Dun- 
fermline Declaration, which they well knew contained state- 
ments utterly repugnant to his mind, were just as muqh to 
blame for his duplicity as he was himself. So much was 
the whole matter of his flight to the Highlands made up, 
that an act of indemnity was passed in favour of the royal- 
ist party who were concerned in the late enterprise ; and 
the King issued an order to his northern friends to disband 
their forces, and submit to him and his Parliament on pain 
of treason. Some of them complied ; but others, believing 
that he gave this order only by compulsion, remained in 
arms, and afterwards, in their zeal for the King s service, 



108 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

caused considerable embarrassment to the Covenanters, as 
we shall see in the sequel. 

But though the State passed an act of indemnity in fa- 
vour of the King^s friends, the Kirk was not disposed to be 
equally forgiving. They connived, indeed, at the King^s 
own delinquency, but they resolved to punish his co-adju- 
tors. This appears from the Presbytery entries of the 
period, of which the following may be taken as a specimen : 
— " Oct. 28. 1650. To try anent any accessorie to the King's 
late escape. — All the brethren were exhorted to try of any 
in these bounds, who have been accessorie to the King"'s 
Majestic his late escape, or the late rebellion in the north, 
and report their diligence therein from time to time."' " De- 
cember 11. Lundie. — The which day compeared the laird of 
Lundie, who being seriously examined, denied expressly any 
accession either to the King's late escape, or to the rising in 
the north, or any foreknowledge of these things ; and that 
he was only in Dundee at that time visiting his brother, 
the Earl of Lauderdale, who remains there." i On this we 
may merely remark in passing, 1st, That it appears this 
Sir James Lundie was an old offend^er against the Kirk ; 
2d, That Dundee was the rendezvous for the Fife accom- 
plices in the ^' start ;"" and, 8d, That Lauderdale himself 
was afterwards proved to be concerned in it ; all which cir- 
cumstances make it more than probable that Lundie was 
also accessary to it. But the dread of the Kirk at this 
time in Scotland produced endless prevarications and false- 
hoods. In Roman Catholic countries the Inquisition itself 
was not more feared. 

As a farther instance of the King's pretended repentance 
for his thwarted flight, he addressed a letter, on the 10th 
of this month, to the " Committee in Fifeshire," wherein 
he says (after giving some directions about their speedily 
raising the proportion of the horse and foot which fell to 
their share), " we declare unto you, that we are grieved 
that we should have listened to the suggestions of some 
wicked persons that were about us, and that we gave any 
^ Records of the Presbytery of St Andrews and Cupar, pp. 59, 60. 



OCTOBER 1650 109 

credit or belief to the calumnies they forged for their own 
sinisterous ends. We have seen and found the evil of the 
way they were leading us into, and now discern the folly 
and madness of it ; and are more assured and confirmed of 
the fidelity and integrity of those whom these malicious men 
would have given us ill imppessions of; and are resolved 
absolutely to adhere to and rely upon their councils, for we 
see they tend to the public good, and our service ; and that 
the others seek us but for their own ends."''' The insincerity 
of this language is so transparent, that no one can fail to 
see through it. 

Again, at a synodical meeting at Cupar on the 1 5th of 
the month, when Mr James Wood was moderator, " The 
Assembly ordains Mr Andrew Honeyman, &c. &;c. to meet 
with the Moderator, for drawing of an letter to his Majesty 
anent his late escape to the Malignants."" The letter was 
prepared, approved, and presented accordingly ; and on the 
6th November following, Mr P. Scougall reported that he 
and Mr L. Oliphant delivered the letter to his Majesty, 
which was very graciously accepted of by his highness, 
with great thanks to the Assembly, and a earnest desire 
to pray for Mm never to fall in the like escape in joining to 
the Malignants.'*'^ Here one does not know at which to be 
most amazed, the hypocrisy of the King, or the credulity of 
the ministers. 

I have mentioned, that at the very time Charles set out 
on his flight to the Highlands, Sir E. Walker was under 
the necessity of leaving his master, and going to the 
continent. We find this and other facts confirmed by 
Colonel Daniel O'Neil,^ one of the King's Irish supporters, 
in a letter to the Marquis of Ormond, dated the Hague, 
October 9 : " Yesternight," he says, " Sir E. Walker came 
hither. Four days ago he left Scotland. He says that a 
great body of the Malignants and engagers, to the number 
of 10,000, in the north of Scotland, got together under the 
command of Middleton, and declared for his Majesty ; that 

1 Records of the Synod of Fife, p. 170-1. 

2 We shall meet with this gentleman again in the march of the royal army 
into England. He was one of those who accompanied Charles into Scotland, 
but had been obliged to leave him immediately. — Clarendon, vi. p. 637. 



110 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

secretly they sent for his Majesty ; that he intended to go 
to them, but was betrayed by my Lord Wilmot, unto whom 
the matter was told by my Lord Duke of Buckingham ; 
that notwithstanding, his Majesty got thirty miles on his 
way, when he was stopped by the entreaty of Colonel Mont- 
gomery, who assured him th^t the army at Stirling should 
be at his command totally ; but that not so much this, as 
his finding the other party short of his expectations, made 
him return to Stirling, where he is now in much more au- 
thority and esteem than hitherto ; that he is this day 
crowned ; that those two Scots armies are treating, and 
great hopes of their agreeing, which is that which will 
banish Cromwell from Scotland. This is the sum of his 
news ; and this is all we have to comfort us for the sudden 
loss of the Prince of Orange, who died on Sunday last of 
the smallpox, more through the ignorance or malice of the 
doctors, than the malignity of his sickness." ^ 

The author of this letter confounds Stirling with Perth, 
and mistakes the day of Charles's coronation, which did 
not take place till the first day of the following year, though 
it was intended to be earlier. 

We find the same facts alluded to in the following letter 
from the poet Cowley to Mr H. Bennet, dated Paris, 1 8th No- 
vember (N. S.) of this year : — " It is not easy to give you an 
intelligible account of the business of Scotland, though we 
have much in the prints of it, and Sir E. Walker, with some 
others, be newly arrived from them to Holland. Tilings 
very strange and remarkable have happened within these 
two months, but what will be the issue of them is yet very 
doubtful, though they look as if they meant to do us no 
good. About the beginning of October, a great number of 
lords and gentlemen (both of the King's old party, and of 
the engagers), weary of the oppression of the prevailing 
faction, and seeing the folly and blindness of it in the op- 
posing of the common enemy, resolved to take arras, and 
handled the matter so as that the King promised to come 
to them himself, for which a day of rendezvous was ap- 
pointed ; but the King, the night before, communicating 

1 Carte's Collections, i. p. 389. 



I 



OCTOBER 1650. Ill 

the counsel to some of the English company (my Lord 
Duke of Buckingham and Lord Wilmot are named), they 
had so little opinion of the solidity of the matter, that they 
persuaded the King to lay aside the resolution, and to send 
to the engaged persons not to assemble ; at least, the King- 
seemed to be persuaded ; but several of the engagers met ; 
and he, three days after, with very few in his company, un- 
der a pretext of hawking, was upon his way toward them ; 
but the thing being discovered too soon (I know not by 
what means), he was overtaken by a party of horse, and 
besought (that is, forced) to return to Perth, and thence 
to Stirling, which is the head-quarters of the army ; but for 
all this, either out of fear of the violence of the stream the 
other way, or out of desire to give him better satisfaction, 
he found himself better treated than before, sat daily with 
them in the council (which he never did before), and the 
30th October was appointed for his coronation." 

When Cromwell heard of the King's elopement to the 
Highlands and return to Perth, he wrote a letter on the 
9th October from Linlithgow to the Committee of Estates, 
expressing his desire for an accommodation, in order to pre- 
vent the further effusion of blood : — '' The grounds and 
ends of the army's entering Scotland," he says, " have been 
heretofore often and clearly made known unto you, and 
how much we have desired the same might be accomplished 
without blood ; but according to what returns we have re- 
ceived, it is evident your hearts had not that love to us, as 
we can truly say we had towards you ; and we are persuaded 
those difficulties in which you have involved yourselves by 
espousing your King's interest, and taking into your bosom 
that person in whom (notwithstanding what hath or may be 
said to the contrary), that which is really malignancy, and 
all malignants do centre ; against whose family the Lord 
hath so eminently witnessed for bloodguiltiness, not to be 
done away with such superficial and formal shows of re- 
pentance as are expressed in his late declaration ; and your 
strange prejudice against us, as men of heretical opinions 
(which, through the great goodness of God to us, have been 
unjustly charged upon us), — have occasioned your rejecting 



112 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

of those overtures, which, with a Christian affection, were 
offered to you before any blood was spilt, or your people 
had suffered damage by us," &c. It scarcely became Crom- 
well to talk of his love for the Scots, after his inhuman 
treatment of their wounded and prisoners at Dunbar ; nor 
to speak of the bloodguiltiness of the royal family, after his 
own Irish massacres, and accession to the murder of the 
King ; nor to deny the charge of heresy, at a time when all 
England was swarming with his sectaries. And so pro- 
bably thought those to whom this letter was addressed, for 
it had no other effect on them than to make them adhere 
to their former determination. The two parties differed so 
widely on first principles, that there could be no hope of an 
amalgamation between them. The one were " blasphemous 
and perfidious sectaries ;"*' the other^ " a hypocritical nation, 
a seed of falsehood, and children of transgression." The 
English identified Christianity with puritanism, lay-preach- 
ing, and independence ; the Scots, with general assemblies, 
kirk- sessions, and covenants. It is difficult to say which 
of the two was widest of the truth. 

Scotland was, in October and the beginning of No- 
vember, in a very peculiar and embarrassing situation. 
The government itself was in a most anomalous condi- 
tion; for the King, who was nominally the head, could 
scarcely be said to enjoy personal freedom. Besides this, 
there were now four independent armies in Scotland, 
pursuing different objects, and occupying, distracting, 
and wasting the country ; so that, as one of the Eng- 
lish commanders truly enough said at this very time;' — 
" Our work is to stand still to see salvation wrought for 
us, this nation being destined for ruin, which makes them 
thus divide among themselves when an enemy is in their 
bowels.'' Firsts there was the main Presbyterian army, 
amounting to about 20,000 men under Greneral Lesley, oc- 
cupying the centre of Scotland, and following up the terms 
of the Covenant with some measure of consistency at least, 
inasmuch as it sought " the honour and happiness of the 
King's Majesty and his posterity," which the Covenant 

1 True Relations, p. 336. 



OCTOBER 1650. 113 

recognised in these words. Secondly ^ There was the English 
or Sectarian army under Cromwell, of about equal strength, 
occupying all the south of Scotland, and keenly opposed 
both to the King and the Covenant. Thirdly^ There was 
the Highland or Episcopal army of 10,000 men, in the 
north of Scotland, under the command of General Middle- 
ton, devoted to the King, but as much opposed to the 
Covenant as the English, though on different grounds ; and 
this, I need hardly add, was the party with which the King 
would gladly have identified himself, had he been at liberty 
to follow his own secret wishes. And, fourtlily^ There was 
a new army which sprung up at this time in the w^est of 
Scotland, which, for the sake of distinction, has been called 
the Westland or Ultra-Covenanting army, and which origi- 
nated with the violent party that had promulgated the 
" Thirteen reasons of the divine displeasure," quoted in p. 92. 
Under the influence of religious fanaticism, this body pushed 
their favourite dogmas to most unwarrantable extremes ; and 
impatient themselves of control, would give no toleration to 
those who differed from them. Professing an adherence to 
the Covenant, they set aside that part of it which declared for 
the King, on the plea that he was a hypocrite and a mahg- 
nant. And I may here remark, that this was the same 
party which, after the Eestoration, gave so much disturb- 
ance, by their unceasing efforts to " extirpate prelacy," 
agreeably to the terms of their Covenant, that Government 
was compelled, in its own defence, to use strong measures 
to keep them under ; and in the exercise of which, as com- 
monly happens in like cases, many of the deluded followers 
were confounded with their ringleaders, and unfortunately 
suffered along with them. 

Here, then, were four armies in Scotland at this time : 
the Presbyterian army, which was for both King and Cove- 
nant conjoined ; the English army, which was for neither ; 
the Highland army, which was for the King without the 
Covenant; and the Westland army, which was for the 
Covenant without the King. So much had this obnoxious 
Covenant caused dissension among those who ought to have 
been all united under one head ! 

8 



114 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

Before I proceed to give some account of the rise and 
dispersion of the Westland Army, I will give the history of 
the Highland Army till the time of its junction with the 
Presbyterians, which happened in the following month. 
But this history must be very concise, as we possess only a 
few facts from which any full or connected narration can 
be obtained. 

As the Highland royalists felt distrustful of the King's 
Presbyterian supporters, and therefore unwilling to lay 
down their arms till they saw what turn things might 
take, the Committee of Estates sent their General, Sir John 
Brown, against them ; either to offer them pardon, on con- 
dition of their submission, or to fight them if they refused. 
On the 21st of this month, Brown fell in with a small, but 
brave, division of their troops, under the command of Sir 
David Ogilvy, at Newtyle in Angus, where an action ensued, 
which ended in Brown's defeat. When this news reached 
Perth, the Committee of Estates ordered Lesley himself to 
march against the "rebels," as they termed them, " with 
fire and sword, till they were totally suppressed." Pre- 
viously, however, Lesley had an interview with the King, 
on the 24th, in his bed-chamber ; immediately after which, 
he went across the Tay with 3000 horse, and marched into 
Angus, with the view of encountering the Highlanders, and 
concluding a peace with them. Meanwhile, the King had 
sent for Lord Ogilvy, who came to him on the 26th. They 
had a long conference together, " in the summer-house on 
the water (none being present but my Lord Dunfermline), 
when his Majesty shewed him, that, if they layed not down 
arms presently, it would ruin both him and them without 
recovery." This representation, when submitted to the 
Highland forces, led their leaders to address a letter to Gene- 
ral Lesley, in which, after stating their resolution to stand 
or fall together, they expressed the utmost anxiety for peace, 
and union with him in repelling their common enemy the 
English ; not objecting to the Covenant (which they knew 
would be to no purpose), but desirous of preserving the 
King's person and prerogative inviolate, as well as the 
liberty of his subjects. This letter was signed by the 



OCTOBER 1650. 115 

Marquis of Huntly,i the Earls of Athole, Airlie, Buchan, 
and Seaforth, the Lords Ogilvy, Dudhope, and Sinclair, &c. 
and Sir John Middleton, the Commander of the Forces ; 
and it appears to have produced the desired effect ; for, on 
the 29th, an " Act of pardon and indemnity," signed by the 
Lord Chancellor Loudon was sent to the " northern rebels." 
In this act, after referring to the King's recent flight and 
return, it is said, that " understanding some persons have 
convocated themselves and risen in arms ; and his Majesty 
being desirous out of his royal wisdom and clemency to re- 
claim and reduce all such persons unto obedience, there- 
fore his Majesty, with advice and consent of the Commit- 
tee of Estates, doth hereby assure and declare, that none 
of the said persons who have lately taken arms, shall be 
questioned or challenged thereupon ; and hereby grants 
unto them, and every one of them, a free act of pardon and 
indemnity for any censure and punishment for the same, &c. 
providing the said persons who are in arms, forthwith dis- 
band, lay down arms, and behave themselves as faithful and 
loyal subjects in time coming ; and do make their humble 
addresses to the King's Majesty, and the Committee of 
Estates, or the ensuing Parliament, and supplicate them 
for the benefit of this act and pardon," &c. &;c.2 The same 
authority adds, that, on the 4th November, the northern 
rebels laid down their arms, and accepted of the act of in- 
demnity, by a treaty with Lieutenant- General Lesley at 
Strathbogie ; and so this matter was happily terminated. 

Mr Cowley thus alludes to some of the above particulars 
in the following letter to Mr Bennet: — " In the meantime, 
the other party grew in strength, chose Middleton their 
General, and became a body of about 5000 men. To them 
was Sir J. Brown sent with a party of two regiments of 
horse, to offer them an act of indemnity, and, in case of re- 
fusal, to reduce them by force ; he sent the message to them, 

1 The Presbytery Book of Strathbogie states, that there was to have been 
a meetmg of the presbytery on the 30th October, but " which was not kept, 
in respect Lewis Gordon (Marquis of Huntly) with an malignant party of 
horse, were within the bounds of the presbytery, seeking, and as the brethrea 
were informed, taking horses wherever they could find them." 

2 Balfour's Annals, iv, p. 1 32. 



116 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

and added, that if they returned a dilatory answer, he would 
hang up their messenger. Their answer was very quick, 
for they fell presently upon him, and took, slew, and dis- 
persed the whole party. This brought down the pride of 
the violent faction to a treaty with them, and hostages were 
given on both sides ; the treaty was but begun when Sir 
E. Walker came away, though it was generally believed 
that the issue of it would be the union of all parties, and 
admission of all persons into the service. The Lords risen 
in arms were Murray, Huntly, Earl of Athole, Marischall, 
and many more. Mr Long, Mr Progers, and Dr Eraser, 
are again banished for having had a hand in this business.''^ 
The chief thing that occurred to mar the Highland treaty 
was, that the Commission of the Assembly, on the motion of 
the Kev. Mr Gruthrie, and with the help of " two or three votes 
of elders" subject to his influence, thought fit to excommuni- 
cate the General Sir John Middleton. This was done by 
Guthrie, to mark his disapprobation of the act of indemnity 
being extended to malignants : and though the King sent 
a special messenger to him to delay the publication of the 
sentence, he had the insolence to proclaim it from his pulpit 
at Stirling, on the following Sunday. The circumstances 
were these : — Just as Guthrie was going into his church, a 
messenger arrived with a letter from the King, or from some 
nobleman on the part of the King, earnestly requesting him 
to delay the reading of the sentence for that Sunday at 
least. When Guthrie had read the letter, he put it into 
his pocket, and desired the messenger to come with him to 
church, after which he would give him an answer. The 
messenger went with him accordingly, and, to his astonish- 
ment, heard the preacher coolly read the sentence of excom- 
munication from his pulpit, as if nothing had been done to 
prevent it ! Of this Guthrie, Balfour (himself a Covenanter) 
says, " he was a prime enemy to monarchy, a chief plotter 

1 There is one other letter from Mr Cowley in the " Miscellanea Anglica," 
of 5th December this year ; but as it contains nothing but rumours concern- 
ing the state of matters in Scotland which had reached the writer, every one 
of which was untrue, I think it unnecessary to give any extract from it. One 
of these rumours was, that the King had been thrown into prison by the 
violent party of the Presbyterians. 



OCTOBER 1650. 1 17 

of the Western remonstrance, division and mischief, and a 
main preacher for the Sectaries." Besides this violent 
proceeding, the Commission of the Assembly suspended 
from the communion all who were actually in arms in the 
Highland rebellion, till the next General Assembly (which 
was not to meet till July next year), to which they were 
referred for farther censure ; and all who were accessory to 
the King's escape, were to be reported to the Commission 
at its next meeting. 

It is to be observed here, that though the Highland troops 
had submitted, and taken the benefit of the act of indem- 
nity, they were not yet permitted to serve in the Presby- 
terian army, on account of their " malignancy.*" But the 
time was at hand when this obstacle was to be removed. 

I must not omit to state, that when General Lesley was 
at Aberdeen, on his way south from Strathbogie, the Messrs 
Cant, father and son, both ministers, waited on him, and 
told him " they could not in conscience assist the King to 
recover his Crown of England, but thought one kingdom 
might serve him very well ; and one Crown was enough for 
any one man, one kingdom being sufficient for one to rule 
and govern." This was precisely what Mr Livingstone had 
told the King himself at Dundee, in the July preceding 
(page 41). But this was meddling with a matter in which 
these reverend gentlemen could have no possible concern. 
What their conscience could have to do with the matter is 
not very apparent. Charles had the very same right to the 
Crowns of England and Ireland, that he had to the Crown 
of Scotland. 

Let us now trace the rise and progress of the Westland 
or Ultra-Covenanting Army, till its dispersion at the close 
of this year. Its religious leaders w^ere the Reverends J. 
Guthrie and P. Gillespie,^ who were uniformly distinguished 

^ Either this Gillespie should have been condemned after the Restor-ation, 
or James Guthrie should have been acquitted, for they were both equally 
guilty. And so thought the King himself ; for when, after Guthrie's execu- 
tion, Gillespie was tried, and through some private interest acquitted, he re- 
marked, that if he had suspected the Court was going to acquit the latter, he 
certainly would have pardoned the former. Baillie tells us, that they were 
both " passionate against the proclaiming of the King, till his qualifications 
for government had first been tried and allowed." 



118 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

for recommending the severest measures against the royalistSy 
as well as for imposing, from time to time, the most stringent 
obligations on Charles himself, and treating him more as a 
prisoner than as a prince. They went so far as to con- 
demn all the treaties made with him as unwarrantable, and 
therefore void, and to advocate the ^necessity of entirely 
abandoning him (in spite of all the promises they had made 
to him, and the concessions he had made to them), until he 
gave " satisfactory evidence of a complete change in hi» 
principles and practice ;" though, what amount of evidence 
they would have deemed " satisfactory," perhaps they them- 
selves could not have determined. Mr Guthrie wrote a 
book, soon after this^time, which he entitled, " The Cause 
of God's Wrath against Scotland," in which the strongest 
charges are preferred against the King and his adherents 
for their malignancy ; and not only so, but the Committee 
of Estates, and the General Assembly, are accused of un- 
faithfulness to the obligations of the Covenant, as well as 
of undue leniency and submission towards a hypocritical 
prince ; and to " causes'" such as these, he ascribes the loss 
of the battle of Dunbar, and all the misfortunes with which 
Providence was then visiting the land ! In this book, in 
short, are embodied all the extravagant opinions which 
were maintained by the Ultra-Covenanters, of which we 
have seen, and may again see, some specimens in the course 
of this Narrative. 

The leading men of this party succeeded in convening a 
number of influential gentlemen and ministers of the asso- 
ciated counties of Ayr, Renfrew, Wigton, Dumfries, and 
Galloway, and passed a motion to raise 5000 horse for the 
defence of the country, as well from internal as from exter- 
nal foes. They also recommended to the meeting such 
officers as they thought best fitted to command this new 
army ; men, however, more eminent for their spiritual than 
for their military attainments ; and, to complete the whole, 
they raised 100,000 merks to keep it in the field. Had this 
army acted cordially with the other under Lesley, joined as 
he now was by the Highlanders, Cromwell would undoubt- 
edly have been compelled to return to England. But 



OCTOBER 1650. 119 

their military leaders Colonels Straehan and Ker, and their 
subordinates, in concurrence with their religious leaders, 
Gillespie and Guthrie, and their followers, feeling their 
strength, and having no desire to connect themselves with 
the King and his adherents, refused to serve under Lesley. 
They stigmatised him as " a natural graceless man, whom 
the Lord would never bless." They even began to manifest 
leanings to the English, and a wish rather to negotiate than 
to fight with them ; and, at any rate, to abandon the King 
as a hypocrite and incorrigible malignant. They had little 
relish for CromwelFs sectarianism, but they were more 
opposed to the King's malignancy. Samuel Rutherford, 
one of the organs of this party, was not ashamed to confess, 
in a public document, that he and his friends " hated sec- 
taries with a perfect hatred ;" how great then must have 
been their hatred of malignants ! ^ 

In their anxiety to conciliate these zealots, the Committee 
of Estates appointed some influential noblemen and minis- 
ters to meet with them, and persuade them to unite with 
their brethren in defence of their common Covenant and 
country. But it was soon found that any attempt at ac- 
commodation served only to widen the breach. The Western 
party, in order to embody their views, drew up, on the 17th 
October, what they called " The humble Remonstrance of 
the Gentlemen, Commanders, and Ministers attending the 
Forces in the West, addressed to the Right Honourable 
the Committee of Estates.'' I will give an epitome of this 
document, as shewing what human nature is, and the strange 
lengths to which some men will go in pursuit of a fanatical 
theory. After touching on the discomfiture at Dunbar, as 
an evidence of the divine displeasure, and asserting that 
" the Lord had been deceived and ensnared by the King's 
dissembling (a strange expression surely, as if the Lord 
could ever be deceived or ensnared by any of his creatures), 
they proceed to specify the national offences. The first of 
those they allege is, the evil of their proceedings with the 
King in having admitted him to the kingdom, before he 
had given any satisfactory proof of sincere repentance for 

^ Records of the Presbytery of St Andrews, p. 43. 



120 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

his sins in following the evil ways of his father ; and act- 
ing so far at variance with his duty as to pardon the Irish 
Papists who had shed the blood of so many thousand Pro- 
testants, and allowing them the free exercise of their re- 
ligion ; and encouraging the Marquis of Montrose to in- 
vade the kingdom; and though the King had taken the Cove- 
nants, that could not be viewed as a mark of his repentance, 
so long as he persisted in his former conduct. 2. There was 
too great haste in addressing the King at Breda, without due 
deliberation, and asking the divine counsel ; which was the 
more necessary, from the new evidence which appeared of 
his dangerous intentions. 8. The treaty ought not to have 
been continued, after it was discovered that the kingdom was 
actually invaded by that ' apostate rebel James Graham,^ 
with his Majesty's sanction. 4. Some of the Commissioners 
were too forward to conclude the treaty, as they did not 
insist on the satisfaction demanded by the Parliament, but 
employed men of evil principles to persuade the King to 
temporize, so that his compliance could be no better than 
hypocrisy. 5. When the Parliament had disapproved of 
various parts of the treaty of Breda, the Commissioners 
did not intimate the same to him with sufficient plainness ; 
but allowed him, and a wicked company of Scotch and 
English malignants, to embark for Scotland, contrary to 
their most express instructions ; and moreover, after the dis- 
covery of his intercourse with Montrose, at the very time of 
the treaty, he was admitted to the exercise of public autho- 
rity, without any proof of a real change in him. 6. The 
King continues, even yet, to encourage the same malignant 
party in the kingdom, and to prefer their company and 
counsels to all others ; and still corresponds with the most 
notorious enemies of the Reformation, as the Marquis of 
Ormond, the Earl of Newcastle, and men of like principles. 
7. He refused to sign the Dunfermhne Declaration, till it 
was in a manner extorted from him. And, 8. He made an 
unjust application to the Committee of Estates for a con- 
junction between them and the malignant party ; and when 
this was refused, he privately deserted from Perth, for the 
manifest purpose of joining the malignant forces, and op- 
posing the lawful authorities. 



OCTOBER 1650. 121 

They go on to say, " If it be a sin in us to have put in 
the King''s hands the exercise of power in this nation, be- 
fore evidences had of a real change in him, how much more 
sinful must it be to have designed, or to have endeavoured, 
the putting more power in his hands in England ; we can- 
not judge otherwise of such a design, than to be preferring 
man's interest to God's, and betraying his cause and people 
into the hands of one who had not laid down his enmity 
against both." " When we compare together the assur- 
ances that were given to the Malignants that were with the 
King in Holland ; the bringing of those home ;*the studious 
endeavours that have been used to keep some of them in 
the kingdom, and about the court ; the admission of all the 
Malignant party to resort to the court without any effec- 
tual restraint; the grudging at the purging of the army 
from Malignant persons ; the obstructing of the purging of 
the King's family and life-guard of horse ; the pleading of 
some in the judicatories for persons that are excluded from 
trust by the public resolutions ; the profession of others in 
the Committee of Estates of their desire and resolution to 
put power in the hands of known and eminent Malignants 
in Scotland ; of raising the Malignants of England in arms, 
under the name of the Kirk's party ; and the endeavours 
that have been used to hasten the King's coronation, and 
for putting him in the full exercise of his power, notwith- 
standing that he has not forsaken his evil counsellors and 
company of Malignants, according to the treaty ; we won- 
der that your Lordships are not ashamed so quickly to have 
turned aside, and forgotten your late vows, and the many 
bands that are upon you, to abstain from such ways. And 
we humbly think that your Lordships give too great occa- 
sion to the enemy that has invaded our land to charge you 
with a malignant design, and setting up the old Malignant 
interest."^ 

It is needless to offer any comment on this singular re- 
monstrance, except that it was the production of men who 
could see the mote in their King's eye, but could not dis- 

1 Balfour's Annals, iv. p, 141. The whole of this document ought to be 
read, as affording perhaps the most remarkable example of fanaticism on re- 
cord ; and yet there are not wanting men in our times who defend it ! 



122 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

cern the beam in their own, and whose extravagant fanati- 
cism and disloyalty far outweighed his insincerity. They 
were in the condition of dogs which have got a false scent, 
which only leads them farther from their prey ; or like men 
in a labyrinth, who get hold of a wrong clue, whereby they 
only entangle themselves the more deeply in its mazes. ^ 

This Remonstrance, I may here remark, became after- 
wards so much a standard of rebellion, and a rallying point 
for the disaffected, that the Parliament, in the following 
year, was obliged not only to forbid all his Majesty's sub- 
jects to disperse copies of it, but to come forward, and, un- 
der their hand, declare their disavowal of its contents, and 
promise never to meddle with it, on pain of being prosecuted 
as " seditious persons, and raisers of commotion and divi- 
sion, and breakers of the peace of the country.*" ^ 

As if the Remonstrance had not been sufficiently strin- 
gent and insulting, the same party followed it up, on the 
30th, by another document, still more so, in which they say, — 
" First, It being manifest that the King's not prosecuting 
the cause of God, nor walking in any subordination to God, 
but rather in opposition to the work of God and the Cove- 
nant, and cleaving to all the enemies of the same, we do 
therefore, according to the [West Kirk] Declaration of the 
Church and State of 13th August 1650, disclaim all the sin 
and guilt of the King and his house, both old and late ; and 
declare, that we do not allow him nor his interest, in the 
state of the quarrel betwixt us and the enemy, against 
whom, if the , Lord will, we are to hazard our lives ; and. 
Second, that within Scotland he ought not to be entrusted 
with the exercise of his power, till such time as there be 
convincing and clear evidence of a real change in him ; and 
that an effectual course ought to be taken for preventing, in 
time coming, his conjunction with the Malignant party, and 
for trying the cause of his late deserting of the public coun- 
sels, and of all who had accession thereunto ; and for dis- 
abling Malignants, until they be out of capacity to hurt the 
work and people of God."^ It needs no comment to prove 
what kind of treatment the King and the Malignants would 

1 Acts of Scots Parliament, vi. p. 622. ^ Peterldn's Records, p. 604. 



NOVEMBER 1650. 123 

have received from the authors of this extraordinary docu- 
ment, had they possessed uncontrolled power over them. 

When the Western Kemonstrance came before the Com- 
mittee of Estates, which was not till the 23d November, 
they entered upon the discussion of it with all the warmth 
which its contents were calculated to excite. The Lords 
Argyll, Lothian, and Balcarras inveighed against it as sub- 
versive of all government ; while Warriston, Chiesley, and 
the Laird of Humbie, without actually defending it, tried in 
some degree to palliate it. After protracted debates, it 
was agreed to appoint a committee to draw up an act, in 
which they say, that " they have always been, and are still 
willing, that all faults and miscarriages of any, as well in 
their personal carriage as in discharge of their public trust, 
may be discovered, redressed, and punished, according to 
the laws of the kingdom ;" but that " they find the said 
paper, as it relates to the Parliament and civil judicatories, 
to be scandalous and injurious to his Majesty's person, and 
prejudicial to his authority ; and as it relates to religion 
and church judicatories, they are to desire the Commission 
of the Church to give their sense thereon ; and that in re- 
gard of the effects that it hath already produced, and those 
that are like to follow thereupon, if not prevented, it holds 
forth the seed of divisions of a dangerous consequence," &c. 
This document is dated Perth, 25th November, 

When the Assembly's Commission took up the matter on 
the 28th, they spoke of the Remonstrance in less severe terms. 
They admitted, that there were in it " many sad truths in 
relation to the King and his family, and the public judicato- 
ries C but " they found it their duty, nevertheless, to shew 
that there was also in it an entrenching on some previous 
determinations of the General Assembly, as well as on the 
acknowledged right of the King's person and government, 
and observations which were likely to breed dissension in 
the Kirk and kingdom, of which the enemy had already 
taken advantage, and would yet take advantage ;'' but they 
concluded, " we do resolve to forbear a more particular exa- 
mination of the said Remonstrance, expecting that at the 
next diet of this Commission, these worthy gentlemen, offi- 



124 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

cers, and brethren, will give such a declaration and explana- 
tion of their intentions and meaning as may satisfy both Kirk 
and State, without any further inquiry or debate thereupon/' 
The author of Blair s Life informs us that the King sent 
a copy of the E-emonstrance to Blair, desiring his opinion 
of it as his chaplain, and that the answer he gave was the 
same in substance with that given by the Commission of 
the Assembly. 

These decisions of the State and the Kirk were extremely 
distasteful to the demonstrators. Each party was sure 
the other was in the wrong ; and thus the Presbyterian 
Covenanters, who a few months before were entirely agreed 
in their opinions, became divided into two hostile factions, 
whose existence and opposition have descended even to our 
own times. Their differences, which at the first were not 
great, gradually swelled into importance, and drove them 
to extremes, from which they would at one time themselves 
have shrunk. The one became by degrees more democratic 
and fanatical, and the other more moderate and loyal, than 
they themselves ever supposed they could have become. 
But out of this division some good arose in the end, because 
it gave birth to a conservative majority, which tended to 
keep the other in check ; whereas, had they both remained 
in their former united state, nothing but unmixed evil could 
have been anticipated from the headlong course they were 
pursuing. 

I must now go back to state that, on the 11th of this 
month, Charles had sent Mr Digby, one of his suite, from 
Perth, with a letter to the Marquis of Ormond. His in- 
terests in Ireland, as has been mentioned, had been ruin- 
ed by his signing the Scotch Covenant, and the Dunferm- 
line Declaration, and by his repudiation, though compul- 
sory, of the treaty which he himself had empowered the 
Marquis to ratify with his Irish subjects. The object, 
therefore, of the above letter was to express his unabated 
confidence in the Marquis's ability and judgment ; but, as 
ho could no longer for the present be of any service in Ire- 
land, to recommend him to withdraw from the government 
of that country, to repair to Paris till better times should 



NOVEMBER 1650. 125 

arrive, and there to advise with and assist the Duke of 
York, to whom the King was to write on the subject. 
The Marquis compHed with his sovereign's desire, and 
quitted Ireland in the month following.^ 

The sixth session of the Parliament met at Perth on the 
26th November in the presence of the King, and continued 
its sitting till the iiOth December. Andrew Cant preached 
the opening sermon, " and very plainly and boldly, accord- 
ing to his .custom, did challenge his hearers that there was 
no acting against the enemy." This was one of the Cants 
which had told General Lesley, the month before, that he 
could not in conscience assist the King in recovering his 
English crown. Tn 1646 this preacher had been one of 
those deputed to attend Charles I. at Newcastle, where he 
behaved so rudely to the fallen monarch, that even his col- 
league Blair had to reprove him. . But we shall hear more 
of him in the sequel. The Lord Chancellor, who was Pre- 
sident of this session of Parliament, began its proceedings 
with a speech, in which he adverted to the state of the 
kingdom, and the enemy then invading it, whom he de- 
scribed as " a company of wicked and perfidious, yea 
treacherous blasphemers." The King, who was present, 
not only at this, but all the following sessions, also spoke, 
and concluded some common-place observations with these 
words ; " That which increaseth my hope and confidence 
that God will yet continue to deal graciously with me is, 
that he hath moved me to enter into covenant with his 
people, a favour no other king can claim, and that he has 
inclined me to a resolution, by his assistance, to live and 
die with my people in defence of it. This is my resolution, 
I profess it before God and you, and, in testimony hereof, 
I desire to renew it in your presence ; and, if it please God 
to lengthen my days, I hope my actions shall demonstrate 
it. But I shall leave the enlargement of this, and what 
farther I could say, to my Lord Chancellor, whom I have 
commanded to speak to you at greater length, and likewise 
to inform you of my sense, not only of the folly, but the 
sinfulness of my going from this place, and the reasons of 

1 Carte's Life of the Duke of Ormond. 



126 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

it." It is difficult to account for such language, except on 
the supposition that it had been forced upon him, and that, 
expediency having at first led him to adopt it, he imagined 
that the repetition of the offence was not worse than the 
first commission of it. It is imposssible to believe that he 
really meant what he said, and probably every one present 
thought the same. But he had been moving with an in- 
creased speed down the precipice of duplicity ; and now he 
seems to have had no longer either the wish or the ability 
to arrest his fatal progress. 

Three fasts were enjoined by this Parliament ; one as pre- 
paratory to theKing''s coronation, — bet ween which ceremony 
and a fast it is not easy to see any connection, for it seemed 
like fasting while the bridegroom was with them. The 
coronation was fixed to be at Scone on the first of January 
following. The second fast was for the " contempt of the 
gospel,"' which yet, under the reign of the Covenant, oucfht 
to have been under a very flourishing state ; and a third 
was for the sins of the Kinc/'s family, and the nobility, mean- 
ing, I suppose, the " malignant" nobility. 

And here I cannot help remarking, concerning the men 
who instituted these frequent fasts, that they had con- 
demned and abrogated both the fasts and feasts of the 
" Holy Church Universal," each of which really commemo- 
rated an event in which all Christendom was concerned. 
This they had done on the plea that the Sabbath only was 
of Divine appointment ; and yet they most inconsistently 
multiplied fasts of their own devising, some of which were 
of such a character that it would have been well if they had 
fasted for the most unchristian temper out of which they 
originated. 

A Petition was presented to this Parliament from the 
Ministers of Lothian, Haddington, Linlithgow, &c., " shew- 
ing the pitiful condition of these places ; how that heresies 
did begin to grow amongst them, and of their great neces- 
sities; desiring the Commissioners of the Kirk would, in 
their names and behalf, petition the King's Majesty and 
ParHament for some redress and speedy help." These 
petitioners should have looked elsewhere than to the King 



NOVEMBER 1650. 127 

and the Parliament, both for the cause and the cure of such 
disorders. But they were as yet blind to the true source 
of their misfortunes. 

The case of General Lesley next came under the con- 
sideration of the Parliament, whose behaviour at Dunbar had 
been much censured. He himself gave in a statement ex- 
culpatory of his conduct, and requesting an examination of 
the allegations against him. BailHe says, that " he did as 
much press as any to have liberty to demit his charge, 
being covered with shame and discouragement for his late 
unhappiness, and irritated with Mr James Guthrie s public 
invictions against him from the pulpit.^'' But, he adds, there 
was no mal-administration in Lesley to count of, but the 
removal of the army from the hill the night before the rout, 
in consequence of the committee's orders, contrary/ to his 
mind. So that, in consideration of his eminent services at 
Marston Moor against Charles I., and at Philipshaugh, and 
in the North against the Marquis of Montrose, he was 
thanked for the same, and requested to continue in com- 
mand of the army under the King, notwithstanding his late 
reverses at Dunbar, from being the cause of which he was 
exonerated. The King must have felt painfully and 
awkwardly when Lesley was complimented, in his presence, 
for the part he had acted against his own father and his 
Lieutenant- General Montrose, but he had no remedy. 

There were also acts passed at this session of Parliament, 
that certain witches, which had confessed, should be exe- 
cuted ; and that all males between the ages of sixteen and 
sixty, should be in readiness to serve in the army, with forty 
days' provisions, when called for.^ 

On the 29th, the Commission of the Assembly gave in a 
long Petition and Remonstrance to the King and Estates 
of Parliament, in which they begin by calling on them, in 
substance, to consider " how necessary it is at this time for 
their Lordships to try and find out what, in their public 
ministrations, or private conversations, has contributed to 
the kindling of this great wrath burning against the land ; 
[and, in particular, First, Whether there had not been in some 
)f them sinful precipitances, unstraight designs, and carnal 

1 Balfour's Annals, iv. pp. 182-188. 



128 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

policy, in appointing addresses for treating with the King's 
Majesty, and in the way of carrying on and closing the 
same.^ Secondly, whether there had not been among them 
any purposes tending to a compromise with scandalous, ma- 
lignant, or disaffected persons, and enemies to the cause of 
God. Thirdly, whether it was right in them to grant an 
indemnity to those who were in arms in the late [Highland] 
rebellion, after Grod had put it into their power to bring 
them to justice. Fourthly, whether, notwithstanding the 
many petitions which had been sent to them, they had yet 
sufficiently ' purged the King^s family "* of scandalous and 
disaffected persons. Fifthly, whether they had rooted out 
of their own hearts and lives, covetousness, self-seeking, op- 
pression of the poor, &c. And, lastly, whether they had 
shewn that courage in driving away the cruel adversary now 
trampling a great part of the kingdom, and ordinances of 
God therein, under his feet," which their ancestors shewed, 
when invaded by the same adversary P 

It is difficult for us, in the present times, so much as to 
comprehend the feelings which could prompt the constant 
renewal of the same representations. The last of these in- 
terrogatories, however, really was deserving the serious at- 
tention of the nobles and the nation at large. Their fore- 
fathers, in the time of Wallace and Bruce, in spite of the 
" darkness'"* of their age (it certainly was not darker than 
the one we are now reviewing), would never have allowed 
an enemy to be so long in the heart of their country, with- 
out making far more determined efforts to get rid of him 
than any these Covenanters had yet employed. Here was 
their King, as brave and enterprising as any of his prede- 
cessors, ready to lead them to a " gory bed, or to victory," 
against a band of religious sectaries ; but, instead of follow- 
ing him, they carped at his theological opinions, drove away 
his cavalier companions, and ascribed the invasion of their 
land by the English to the " sins of his family,*" when, in 
reality, it arose from their own folly and pusillanimity, 

1 This refers to the treaty of Breda having been conducted by written cor- 
respondence, or " addresses." 

2 I have no doubt this is the same document which Balfour, iv. p. 189, tells 
us, was presented by seven or eight ministers, on the 30th November. 



NOVEMBER 1G50. 129 

There were a few persons, however, who felt and lamented 
their country^s wrongs, and did their utmost to free it from 
a foreign and most unjust invasion. One Watt, a tenant 
of Lord Tweeddale's, who had been personally aggrieved by 
the English, associating to himself some men of his own 
rank, fell upon the enemy's garrisons in the Lothians, killed 
or took prisoners about 400 of them in all, and enriched 
themselves with their spoils. Another individual, one Au- 
gustine, a Dutchman by birth, whose residence was in the 
neighbourhood of the Pentland Hills, and who had been 
"purged'' out of the Dunbar army for malignancy, made 
frequent inroads, aided by a few followers, into the enemy's 
quarters, and cut off their stragglers by twenty and thirty 
at a time.^ 

These, and similar retaliations, induced Cromwell to issue 
the following proclamation : — " I, finding that divers of the 
army under my command, are not only spoiled and robbed, 
but also sometimes barbarously and inhumanly butchered 
and slain, by a sort of outlaws and robbers, not under the 
discipline of any army ; and, finding that all our tenderness 
to the country produceth no other efiect than their compli- 
ance with, and protection of, such persons ; and consider- 
ing that it is in the power of the country to defeat and dis- 
cover them, (many of them being inhabitants of those places 
where commonly the outrage is committed,) and perceiving 
that their motion is ordinarily by the invitation, and ac- 
cording to intelligence given them by countrymen ; I do 
therefore declare, that wheresoever any under my command 
shall be hereafter robbed or spoiled by such parties, I will 
require life for life, and a plenary satisfaction for their 
goods, of those parishes and places where the act shall be 
committed, unless they shall discover and produce the of- 
fender. And this I wish all persons to take notice of, that 
none may plead ignorance. Given under my hand, at 
Edinburgh, the 5th November 1650." 

In regard to the Commission of Assembly's Petition and 
Remonstrance, already adverted to, the Estates did not 
give an answer to it till the 14th of next month ; but this 

1 Balfour's Annals, iv. p. 165. 



130 PERSONAL HISTORY OP CHARLES II. 

may be the proper place to notice it. The answer was of 
a more submissive character than might have been expected, 
considering how uncalled for the document was, and con- 
tained an ample " confession of their sins '''' to their spiri- 
tual guides, though that doctrine was far from being any 
part of their religious creed. They acknowledged, " with all 
thankfulness, the pious zeal of the Commission for their 
seasonable warning.^^ They profess to be " truly humbled, 
not only for the sins of the kingdom, but likewise for their 
own sins, in the public administration of their places, and 
for their personal guiltiness." If any of them who had been 
engaged in the treaty at Breda did use " precipitancy or 
unstraight designs," in carrying it on, and closing it, they 
will be most willing to make an ingenuous confession, and 
be sincerely humble for the same ; and do hiess God who 
moved the King to grant all that was desired.'''' Though they 
have now added many persons to the army who were for- 
merly excluded (which they had by the time this answer 
was framed), yet it shall be their care that the " cause 
and Covenant of God'' be not injured thereby. And as to 
the purging of the King's family, they admit their guilti- 
ness in that particular, and will be more careful about this 
in future ; and they farther admit, that there had been a 
great deal of oppression of poor tenants, vexatious quar- 
tering of soldiers, unjust vexations, «Sz;c. " the committers 
whereof are not yet brought to trial, and condign punish- 
ment, but which we shall, God willing, endeavour to amend.'' 
Towards the end of this document, the original of which is 
tedious and verbose, they use these words : — " Upon serious 
and impartial examination of our own ways and conversation, 
we do ingenuously confess, besides the public sins of our 
administration in our places, that we have the guiltiness of 
many domestical and personal sins to be humbled for before 
God. We have fallen from our first love. We have not that 
zeal, unity, and courage, we had for the cause, at the re- 
newing of our Covenant in the beginning of this work of 
reformation. Our former anxiety and unity are turned into 
jealousy and division," &;c. &;c.^ 

^ Acts of the Scottish Parliament, %n loco. 



NOVEMBER lbV)0. LSI 

What the real feelings of these statesmen were at this 
time, and whether they really meant what they said, it 
would be difficult to ascertain ; but one thing is evident, 
that there was so far from being any true repentance in 
their confession, that it only amounted to an expression of 
regret that they had not been more disloyal and fanatical 
than they now were. It was therefore a repentance that 
needed to be repented of. 

But possibly the whole answer was a piece of mockery 
towards the members of the Commission ; and my reason 
for suspecting this is, that these statesmen were so far from 
intending to become more zealous in their covenanting ten- 
dencies, as they themselves promise in their answer they 
would become, that they were at this time avowedly moving 
in the very opposite direction ; for they were treating the 
King with increased respect ; they were not now insisting 
on the banishment of all his suite, as they had lately deter- 
mined upon ; they had re-admitted many " malignants'^ and 
" engagers ""** into the army ; and finally, they were prepar- 
ing to repeal, and, as we shall see, soon did repeal, " the 
Act of Classes,'' whereby the same persons would be restored 
to places of ciml power and jurisdiction. For these reasons, 
I cannot help thinking, that when these statesmen say, " we 
have fallen from our first love,'' &c., they must have meant 
something very different from what such language would 
convey to the Commission of the A ssembly. 

" In the meantime," says Nicoll, under this date, " sun- 
dry fasts and humiliations were appointed through the 
kingdom for averting God's wrath ; but the Lord was not 
yet entreated, but seemed to hide his face from his people ; 
and truly the Lord had just cause ; for all our fasts were but 
formalities, and the Lord's word had not force, power, nor 
strength of conversion and repentance, among this people ; 
till his wrath and hot displeasure was poured out, turning * 
the wisdom of the wise into folly, and the strength of the 
strong men into weakness." 

Towards the end of November, Colonel Montgomery was 
ordered by Parliament to put himself at the head of the 
army in the West, with a view to connect it with that under 



132 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U. 

General Lesley. When Colonel Strachan heard of this 
proeeedmg he threw up his commission, and went over to 
Cromwell, whom he had once served before, and had been 
reckoned at best but a doubtful convert to Presbyterianism 
and the Covenant. This offence of going over to the enemy, 
was afterwards called " complying with sectaries," against 
which a special act was passed, subjecting all who should 
be guilty of it to the punishment of treason, excommunica- 
tion, and forfeiture of goods to the King's use, which sen- 
tence w^as executed upon Strachan, though the offence was 
committed before the act was passed. Colonel Ker, on 
the other hand, unwilling to serve either the King or Crom- 
well, but preferring to be his own master, as soon as he 
heard that Montgomery was coming to take his command 
from him, made a rash attack upon the English under 
General Lambert, at Hamilton, early on the morning of the 
1st of December. But his attempt proved unsuccessful, 
and ended in his overthrow, and his being taken prisoner ; 
which had the effect of dispersing, and in a manner annihi- 
lating, the Westland army, as from this time we hear no 
more of it. 

The following extract from the Presbytery Book of La- 
nark, of 28th November 1 650, has evidently a reference to 
the motions of the English army at this time : — " The 
brethren got not liberty to sit down in presbytery, because 
immediately after exercise (divine service), the enemy came 
to the town of Lanark, being about the number of 4000 
horse ; and so they (the brethren) were forced to go away 
in haste out of the town ; and the said horse stayed in 
Lanark till Saturday in the morning, and then went to 
Hamilton ; and upon the next Lord's Day thereafter was 
that sad stroke at Hamilton.'' 

Some partial attempts were made to collect the scattered 
fragments of the Westland army, but they came to nothing, 
which proved how thoroughly untempered was the mortar 
that had bound that body together. And, in truth, it was 
fortunate that this army had been so easily dispersed, for 
thereby the King got rid of men who were much more likely 
to do him harm than good ; just as the army at Dunbar 



I 

NOVEMBER 1650. 133 

would have done, after the royalists were expelled from it, 
if Cromwell had not conquered it; for, according to Sir 
James Turner, " if Lambert had not defeated Ker at Ha- 
milton, the King would have been as safe at Perth as his 
father had been at Westminster." It was fortunate too, 
that Cromwell, rather than the Presbyterians, should have 
dispersed this army, as their own brethren were thus saved 
the odium of shedding their blood ; and the blow came from 
those towards whom they had long entertained a too favour- 
able tendency. 

Having now brought down the narrative of events to the 
discomfiture and dispersion of the ultra-covenanting army, 
I may now go back to mention, that when Cromwell was 
in Glasgow in October^ he went to hear a sermon from the 
Presbyterian minister of the High Church there, Mr 
Zachary Boyd. This reverend gentleman, with that bold- 
ness which characterised the preachers of those times, and 
with that habit of introducing politics and personalities 
into their discourses, made a furious attack upon the Eng- 
lish commander who sat before him, for his alleged breach 
of covenant, his sectarianism, his accession to the murder 
of the late King, and his iniquitous invasion of Scotland. 
Baillie, in one of his letters, says that Mr Boyd " railed on 
him to his very face." The subject of the discourse was 
Daniel viii., which relates to an encounter between the ram 
with two horns, and the he-goat with one. The preacher 
made out Cromwell to be tho he-goat, which, though at 
first victorious, was speedily to have its bones broken to 
pieces. The English General listened to him with patience ; 
but one of his ofiicers, who sat near him, whispered to him, 
that if it were his pleasure, he would pull the insolent rascal 
out of the pulpit by the ears. " Peace," said Cromwell, 
" he is one fool, and you are another." In the evening of 
the same day, he invited the preacher to a disputation on 
the points at issue between them ; on which occasion, if we 
may believe the English account, the Puritan was too much 
for the Presbyterian. It is certain, at any rate, that the 
next time Mr Boyd preached, it was in a more mitigated 
tone. A Presbyterian version, however, of this disputation 



134 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

is, that one of their ministers, Mr Hugh Binning," i so com- 
pletely non-plussed the Puritan party, that Cromwell asked 
who " that bold young man was T and being told that his 
name was Binning, he answered, " he hath hound well in- 
deed, but (putting his hand on the hilt of his sword) this 
will loose all again."' It is not easy to say what amount of 
truth there may be in these anecdotes ; but CromwelFs for- 
bearing and frank manner towards the Presbyterian minis- 
ters would seem to prove that those of Edinburgh had no 
reason to fear any thing from him, had they remained at 
their posts, instead of seeking refuge in the Castle. 

But I may be allowed to say something more concerning 
Zachary Boyd, before parting from him. He had been so 
much of an Episcopalian, in the early part of his career, 
that at the coronation of Charles I., in 1633, he welcomed 
that monarch to Edinburgh with a Latin oration, conceived 
in the loftiest strain of panegyric ; and in the beginning of 
the Rebellion, he refused to receive the communion in any 
but a kneeling posture, as well as to sign the Solemn League 
and Covenant ; but, overcome at last by persuasion, or by 
fear, or by the influence of example, he yielded those points, 
and submitted to the popular impulse. " At our towns- 
men's desire,'" says Baillie, " Mr A. Cant and Mr J. Euther- 
ford were sent by the nobles to preach in the High Kirk 
(Glasgow), and receive the oaths of that people to the Co- 
venant. Lord Eglinton was appointed to be witness there. 
With many a sigli and tear^ hy all that people the oath loas 
made. Provost, baillies, council, all, except three men, held 
up their hands. Mr Zacharias^ and Mr John Bell, younger, 
has put to their hands. The College, it is thought, will 
subscribe, and almost all who refused before."" Mr Boyd 
was a man of wealth, a good scholar, a most voluminous 
writer, and a great contributor to the College of Glasgow. 
He composed no less than eighty -six works, some of which 
were published, and others still remain in manuscript ; but 
it is chiefly as a poet, or rather would-be poet, that he has 
attracted attention. Among other attempts in this way, 
he composed a metrical version of the Psalms, which he in- 

^ See p. 7. 



DECEMBER 1650. 135 

tended lor the use of his kirk ; but of this nothing more 
need be said than what his friend Baillie said of it, in one 
of his Letters, " Our good friend Mr Z. Boyd has put him- 
self to a great deal of pains and charges to make a psalter ; 
but I ever warned him his hopes were groundless to get it 
received in our churches : yet the flatteries of his unadvised 
neighbours makes him insist in his fruitless design." Among 
other works, he produced two volumes under the title of 
" Zion's Flowers, or Christian poems for Spiritual edifica- 
tion,'' of which I will give one extract from a soliloquy 
supposed to be uttered by Jonah while in the whale's belly : 

" What house is this, where's neither coal nor candle, 
Where I nothing but guts of fish do handle ? 
The like of this on earth man never saw, 
A Kving man within a monster's maw. 
Not so was Noah in his house of tree. 
For thro' a window he the Hght did see. 
He sailed above the highest waves, a wonder ; 
I and my boat are all the waters under. 
He in his ark might go and also come, 
But I sit still in such a straitened room 
As is most uncouth, head and feet together. 
Among such grease as would a thousand smother. 
Eight prisoners were in Noah's hulk together. 
Comfortable they were, each one to other. 
In aU the earth, like unto me is none, 
Far firom aU living, I here lie alone." 

But it is time I should leave both Mr Boyd and Cromwell, 
and return to the civil, religious, and military affairs of 
Scotland. 

The defeat of Colonel Ker and the Westland army at 
Hamilton, not only freed the King from a dangerous ally, 
but there was a positive advantage which arose from it, 
namely, that the royalist party founded an argument upon 
it for strengthening Lesley's army, by admitting into it all 
those who had hitherto been excluded on account of their 
religious opinions. 

Accordingly, on the 4th December, a letter was ordered 
by the Parliament to be written to the Moderator of the 
General Assembly of the Kirk, " to call a meeting of the 
Commission on the 18th to give their advice anent taking 



186 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

in and excluding of persons from defence of their country," 
The Moderator replied, that there could be no meeting be- 
fore the ordinary one of the 23d of the month ; wherefore 
the house ordered " a sharp letter**' to be sent to him, de- 
siring him to hold the meeting on the 1 2th, otherwise the 
Parliament would act independently of them, as they must 
go on to do that which God, their country, and every good 
man requires at their hand=" This was peremptory language, 
and was the first time, perhaps, since the beginning of the re- 
bellion, that the civil power had ventured to assert its supe- 
riority over the ecclesiastical ; and it was the more remark- 
able, because addressed to ministers, before whom some of 
the noblemen and gentlemen of this very Parliament had 
done public penance on their knees, clothed in sackcloth, 
for the pretended offence of having entered into the " en- 
gagement*" in behalf of their late Sovereign ! 

The Commission met on the 14th of the month, and ad- 
dressed the Parliament in a somewhat subdued tone. They 
repeated some of their old complaints, but they spoke with 
more temper and moderation than they had been used to 
do, which shewed that the decisive language of the Parlia- 
ment was not without its effect upon them ; and in regard 
to the persons who might be permitted to rise in arms in 
defence of their country, their reply was, " that in this case 
of so great and evident a necessity, they could not be 
against the raising of all fencible persons in the land, and 
permitting them to fight against the enemy for the defence 
of the kingdom, except such as are excommunicate, forfeit- 
ed, notorious, profane, and flagitious ; such as from the 
beginning were, and continue still, or are at this time, ob- 
stinate and professed enemies and opposers of the Cove- 
nant and cause of God. And for the capacity of acting, 
that the Estates of Parliament ought (as we hope they will) 
have a special care that, in the general concurrence of all 
the people of this kingdom, none be put in such trust or 
power that they may be prejudicial to the cause of God ; 
and that such officers as are of known integrity and affec- 
tion to the cause, and particularly such as have suffered in 
former armies, may be taken special notice of." 



DECEMBER 1650. 137 

This was, in a great measure, conceding the point which 
ro3'alists had long been contending for, because most of the 
terms here used were so vague and indefinite, that they 
admitted of any construction which that party chose to put 
on them ; and it amounted to a consent, that all who should 
sign the Solemn League and Covenant, from whatever mo- 
tives, and who were not actually in a state of excommuni- 
cation and forfeiture, might serve in the royal army. 

But it must be observed that this decision was far from 
being unanimously agreed to. Even in the Commission 
there was a minority, and in the Kirk at large, a very noisy 
and powerful minority, who protested against it, and who 
were far from considering themselves bound by it, even after 
it became law. In some of the Presbyteries, particularly 
Aberdeen, Stirling, and Lanark, there was a majority 
against this new law, and these did not fail to make their 
opinions known and attended to. Messrs Guthrie and 
Bennet, ministers of Stirling, took the lead in this opposi- 
tion ; Sir John Chiesley declared that he would prefer go- 
ing over to Cromwell at once than join with Malignants 
in defending the country ; and many others carried these 
sentiments to the same pitch of extravagance. One might 
have expected that the disastrous defeat at Dunbar, which 
was caused chiefly by the expulsion of so many Malignants 
from the Presbyterian army, might have been enough to 
prevent a recurrence of the same folly. But though willing 
to crush the sectaries, and to uphold the King, they were 
indignant at the notion of accepting the help of his best 
friends in promoting these objects, simply because those 
friends were not as devoted to the Covenant, and to the 
theology of Calvin, as themselves ! These fanatics (for what 
other name can we give them ?), withdrawing from Lesley's 
army, joined themselves to, and strengthened, other mal- 
contents and disaffected persons of similar principles ; and 
thus was begun a deadly feud between the two factions. 
The same spirit and the same behaviour extended them- 
selves to the various Synods and Presbyteries throughout 
Scotland ; the majorities in which suspended or deposed 



138 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

their brother ministers according as each party happened 
to outnumber its opponents. 

The Parliament was not slow in availing itself of the per- 
mission thus obtained for recruiting the royal army. The 
act embodying this decision was termed the Public Resolu- 
tions ; and hence all who adhered to these were named 
Besolutioners, which became a party distinction, as opposed 
to the minority who afterwards assumed the name of Pro- 
testers. An act of levy was passed on the 2Sd, in which all the 
counties, without distinction of parties, had their proportions 
of military force assigned to them ; and letters were forthwith 
written to them in the King's name, authorising and en- 
joining them to bring their quota of troops, without delay, 
to head quarters. In the Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron 
of Locheill, there is a copy of the letter written to that chief 
and his clan, dated Perth, the 24th December, calling on 
them to raise their portion of the new levies, and " speedily 
and effectually rise and put yourselves in arms for the relief 
of your distressed brethren, and to revenge their bloodshed 
by the sword in divers corners of the country ; besides the 
multitudes starved to death in prisons, and famished and 
dying every day, for want of bread, in each town and 
village." 

These last words refer, I suppose, to the distress and 
scarcity which prevailed in that part of Scotland, which was 
occupied by the English, and also to the treatment of the 
Scottish prisoners who had been taken at Dunbar.^ 

Most of these chieftains readily responded to the call of 
their Sovereign. All who had formerly been excluded on 
account of their malignity, now came forward, and were 
welcomed on condition of their abjuring, or pretending to 
abjure, in the Kirk, their former religious opinions, clothed 
in sackcloth, on the stool of repentance ; which, from the 
example of their royal master, and with a view to serve 

' Locheill failed to reach Stirling in time to be of auy help to the King. 
When he was on his way with a thousand of his men, " Cromwell intercepted 
his march ; and the King was obliged to pui-sue such measures as nothing 
but the desperate state of his affairs could put him upon." Memoirs, p. 95. 



DECEMBER 1650 139 

him, few of them scrupled to do. Among these were Lords 
Lauderdale, Linlithgow, Crawford, Seaforth, Carnegie, 
Montgomery, &c. and Sir James Turner. This last-men- 
tioned officer, in his interesting autobiography, thus ex- 
presses himself on the subject of the re-admission of himself 
and others into the army : — " Behold a fearful sin ! The 
ministers of the Gospel received all our repentances as un- 
feigned, though they knew well enough they were but coun- 
terfeit ; and we, on the other hand, made no scruple to de- 
clare that ' engagement' to be unlawful and sinful, deceit- 
fully speaking against the dictates of our consciences and 
judgments. If this was not to mock the all-knowing and 
all-seeing God to his face, then I declare myself not to know 
what a fearful sin hypocrisy is." Sir James himself was 
longer in being admitted than the rest, because of his up- 
posed extreme malignancy. 

I have only to add, as connected with this subject, that 
the records of the Presbyteries and Synods at this period, 
contain numerous entries of noblemen and gentlemen in their 
respective vicinities, performing public confession and pe- 
nance for having been anti-covenanters and " engagers" (the 
advocacy of the '•' engagement" being sometimes called " the 
late horrid rebellion against God and his cause"), and also 
for having aided the King in his " start" to the Highlands. 
This penance is stated to be previous to their being re- 
ceived to the Communion and the Covenant^ with a view to 
their entering into the King's army. Well might Sir James 
Turner call this " a fearful sin !" " All the churches," says 
Burnet, " were full of pretended penitents ; for every one 
that offered his service to the King was received upon the 
public profession of his repentance for his former mahg- 
nancy, wherein all saw that he was only doing it in com- 
pliance with the peremptory humour of the time." The 
trial of the Earl of Lauderdale, preparatory to his re-ad- 
mission into the Kirk, is thus entered in the records of the 
Presbytery of St Andrews, from which a correct idea may 
be formed of the rest : — '^ Dec. 2o. The which day, the 
presbytery received an act of the Commission of the Gene- 
ral Assembly, dated Perth, Dec. 14th 1650, referring to 



140 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

them John Earl of Lauderdale, that they may try the evi- 
dence of his repentance for his accession to the late unlaw- 
ful engagement against the kingdom of England, and that 
thereafter they may receive him to public satisfaction for 
that offence. And likewise received a petition from him- 
self, desiring that he may be admitted to testify his repent- 
ance for his accession to that sinful way^ and be received 
to the Communion and renewing of the Covenant. The 
presbytery having at length heard the said Earl of Lauder- 
dale, compearing before them, express and declare his sense 
of the sinfulness of that engagement, in the nature and 
grounds thereof, and having heard him humbly acknow- 
ledging his accession to that course, and sinful forwardness 
and activity, above many others, in contriving and carrying 
on the same, withall testifying his sorrow therefore, crav- 
ing pardon of God for it, and promising in his strength, 
never again to own that or the like course ; and being heard 
anent the King's Majesty's late escape, whereof for the most 
part he cleared himself, yet in somethings therein, his car- 
riage being represented to him to be sinful, he acknowledged 
the same — do, after mature deliberation, find that they 
cannot refuse the said Earl of Lauderdale to testify his re- 
pentance publickly, and to receive the communion, and sub- 
scribe the Covenant, according to the order prescribed by 
the General Assembly ; and therefore ordains Mr Jas. 
Macgill, minister at Largo, to receive him to public satis- 
faction in the parish church of Largo, upon the day of 
solemn humiliation (meaning the 26th of this month), and to 
receive his subscription to the Declaration appointed by the 
General Assembly 1 649, to be subscribed by such as have 
been accessary to that engagement.'' ^ 

It appears from the Session Register of Largo, of the 
above date, that all this was done as directed ; but what 
kind of a preparation this hypocritical act was for receiving 
the holy communion, every unbiassed person may judge. 

In the Cupar Presbytery Records in the same month, 
there is a detailed account of the confession, censure, and 
admission of the Earl of Crawford and Sir Mungo Murray 

^ Records of the Presbytei'y of St Andrews, p. 61. 



DECEMBER 1650. 141 

for the like offences, p. 157-163. Crawford was not only 
rebuked, and made to do penance, for his being concerned 
in the " unlawful engagement," and the King's escape, but 
for having simply intended^ as he himself acknowledged, to 
ask leave of the presbytery " to fight for the cause of God," 
on the ground that he " had no lawful calling or power to 
ask such leave." The Kirk was not satisfied with even this 
confession and censure as to the King's flight (though the 
Earl had done no more than go to meet his Majesty at 
Dundee, by his own command, but found him gone, p. 104), 
for, in the following month, the same Peer was obliged, upon 
a week day, in his own seat in the kirk of Cupar, to declare 
his repentance, for removing of any scandal given by his go- 
ing at that time to Dundee." Immediately after which, it is 
stated, he marched with his regiment to Stirling. 

In short, at this time, nothing could exceed the tyranny 
of the Presbyterian courts, on the one hand, and the pusil- 
lanimous submission of the Scots nobility and gentry, on 
the other. The great error of the latter was, in confessing 
that to be a sin, in order to please the Kirk, which their 
conscience and better judgment must have told them was a 
duty. They feared man more than God. 

The same kirk records exhibit sad proofs of the dege- 
neracy of the age, as to the prevalence of witchcraft, adul- 
tery, fornication, and even incest and bestiality, notwith- 
standing the severe punishments inflicted on the offenders ; 
such as, in some cases, standing every Sunday for three 
quarters of a year (and in one instance for a year and a 
half), in sackcloth before the congregations of all the kirks 
of a presbytery in rotation.^ In fact, the very remedies 

1 See the Presbytery Book of Strathbogie, passim ; but I will confine myself 
to the close of this year. I4th August 1650. There is the case of a woman 
named Christian Gordon, having a child by her own nephew, which she mur- 
dered and hid in her house. On the body being discovered, she threw herself 
from a height and was killed. 29 Oc^.— One Jas. Gordon for fornication, and 
for having " followed Jas. Graham," was sentenced to appear in the church 
every Sunday /or three quarters of a year in sackcloth. 13 Nov. — " Appeared 
again, Robertson in Keith, and having stood a half year in juggis (a yoke or 
iron ring, which secured the culprit by the neck and mouth) and sackcloth, 



142 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

used to check the disease seem to have aggravated it, by 
familiarising people's minds with subjects which they should 
rather have been encouraged to dismiss from their thoughts. 
The minute details into which the ministers and elders of the 
Kirk courts thought fit to enter, in their investigations of 
such cases, could scarcely fail to do far more harm than 
good, and to increase the evils which they were trying to 
remedy. 

I have already mentioned, that besides the fast for the 
King's Coronation, the Parliament had enjoined a second 
for " contempt of the Gospel," to be held on the 22d De- 
cember ; and a third on the 26th of the same month, for 
the standing grievance, " the sins of the King's family," on 
account of which so many useless expiations had already 
been offered up. Thus were these misguided men fasting^ 
at the very season when all Christendom was feasting and 
rejoicing in commemoration of their Redeemer's nativity ; 
nay, they held their usual sitting in Parliament on Christ- 
mas day.^ The rehgious and festive observance of this 
anniversary was deemed popery or prelacy, which their 
Covenant taught them to abjure ; and not only so, but the 
" observers of Yule" were classed with " scandalous per- 
sons, drunkards, and swearers," and as such, subjected to 
ecclesiastical censures.^ But we shall mistake the matter, 
if we suppose that their fasts involved abstinence from food, 
or from any other ordinary indulgence. They were rather 
like those of the Jews, in the time of Isaiah, " fasts for de- 
bate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness;" for the 
preachers in their sermons debated \h.Q political questions of 
the day, and the intention of such debates was to smiie 
those against whom they bore an antipathy ; as, for example, 

for her cohabiting in fornication with David Palmer, she was referred back to 
her own parish to be absolved the next Lord's Day.'' 

The same day, the presbytery was desired to intimate to their congi'ega- 
tions the excommunication of one person for " rape and murder ;" of a second 
for bestiality ; of a third for witchcraft, and of two couple for being " vaga- 
bond adulterers." 

1 Acts of Scots Parliament 1 650, Cromwell, however, feasted, for he and 
his army kept this day as a day of thanksgiving for the surrender of Edin- 
burgh Castle ! Nicoll's Diary, p. 40. 

2 Records of the Synod of Fife, pp. 167-8. 



DECEMBER 1650. 143 

they had lately done, or rather attempted to do, in regard 
to the treatment of the Highland royalist army, and other 
unfortunate malignants. Their object was to rouse the 
feelings of their audience, in reference to the subject before 
them, which they effected, by making it matter of vehement 
declamation in their sermons, and no less vehement en- 
treaty in their prayers. 

Principal Baillie, who was one of the moderate party 
(that is, ''a King and Covenant'' Presbyterian), has a 
letter written at this time to his friend Mr Spang, which 
will throw some additional light on the state of affairs in 
Scotland at the close of the year 1650. He says, that they 
daily expect to hear of Cromwell marching to Stirling to 
" mar the Coronation;"' which he adds, " sore against my 
heart, was delayed to the 1st of January, on pretence of 
previously keeping a fast for the sins of the King's family 
on Thursday next." " It cannot be denied," he goes on to 
say, " that our miseries, and dangers of ruin, are greater 
than for many ages they have been ; a potent victorious 
enemy master of our seas, and, for some good time, of the 
best of the land ; our standing force against this his immi- 
nent invasion, few, weak, and inconsiderable; our Kirk, 
State, and army, full of divisions and jealousies ; the body 
of our people be-north Forth, extremely ill used by a handful 
of our own ; many inclining to treat and agree with Crom- 
well, without care either of King or Covenant ; none of our 
neighbours called upon by us, or willing to give us any help, 
though called. What the end of all this shall be, the Lord 
knows ! " 

The following document from the MS. of NicolFs Diary, 
in relation to the fast on Thursday the 26th of this month, 
I give mrhatim^ as it has never before been printed.^ — 

^ I find it lias been printed by the Abbotsford Club in the Presbytery Book 
of Lanark. There are a few verbal differences of no importance. To make 
it more readable, I have introduced a few commas, but I have given it in the 
original spelling, for the purpose of shewing how very differently the people 
of Scotland and of England spelt their words two hundred years ago. I have 
now before me the original of a document put out by Oliver the Protector, in 
which, with the exception of two insignificant words, the spelling is exactly 
the same as it is at this day ! Sir James Balfour's Annals affords a good spe- 
cimen of the Scotch spelling of the same period. 



144 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

" Heir is set doun the Caussis of a Solempne Fast keipit 
by the Kingis Majestie and haill Oongregatioun of this Kirk, 
uporie Thursday the 26 of December 1650. — 

'' 1. The long oppositioun that hes bene maid by the 
Roy all Familie to the work of God, and progress of the 
Gospell, and persecution that hes bene maid by their auc- 
toritatie, of many godlie, and faithful men since the Re- 
formation begun in this land. 

" 2. That King James, after his swearing and subscryving 
the Covenant, sould have so foullie fallen from the same ; 
and, contrarie thairto, haif altered the Government of this 
Church, and brocht in Bishops and many either cere- 
monyis.^ 

"3. The persecution that was followed by him against 
many faithful ministers for adhering to the Covenant and 
liberties of this Church, and testifeying against the corrup- 
tiones of the tyme. 

" 4. His laying a foundation for bringing in all the cere- 
monyis of the Church of England upone this Church, quhence 
hes flowed sa money sad inconvenientis as these years past 
hes producit. 

" 5. King Charles [I.] entering upon the same courss, and 
procecuting the same desygnes, quhairby, effcer many par- 
ticular offences, it came to be ane arbitrarie and violent 
obtruding of the Book of Common Prayer and Canones 
upone the Church. 

" 6, His allying and mareying ane of the Popische reli- 
gioun, and his tollerating of the Mass, and the exercise of 
these abhominationes, in view of the Lord's pepell, to the 
great prejudice of the Reformed religion, and the putting 
himself and his kingdom both under snaires and wraith. 

" 7. The great profanitie of the Court for many years too 
much tollerated and countenanced by him in masks and 
Sabbath breakings; at last publictlie avowed by him in 
many things by the Buik of Sportes. 

" 8. His arbitrarie government quharby many of all classes 

1 There was notliing in the National Covenant (the one here referred to), 
which forbade James VI. to bring in " Bishops and other ceremonies." 



DECEMBER 1G50 145 

lies bene broght to suffering, without proceiding according 
to the lawis of the kingdome. 

" ,9. His estabhshing the Court of High Commission, and 
authorising therein many thingis destructive to the liberties 
of this Kirk and kingdome. 

" 10. His prosequiting by airms, being misled by evill 
counsell, a war against those quho adhered to the Covenant, 
and who necessarlie and lauchtfuUie withstood the inbring- 
ing of eorruptiones into this Church, quairby he maid him- 
self guiltie of much innocent blood of the Lord's pepill. 

"11. The present King entering to tread the same steps, 
firsts closing a treaty with the Popische Yrishe rebells who 
had sched so much blood, and granting theme not onlie 
thaire personall libertie, but also the free exercise of Po- 
pische religion, so that he might use them against his Pro- 
testant subjects ; secondly^ by his Commissionating that ex- 
communicated rebell James Grrahame agane to invade this 
kingdome which wes stryving to be faithfull to the cause, 
and to give commissions to sundry by sea for that end ; and^ 
thirdly^ by his refusing, for a tyme, the just satisfactioune 
that w^as desyred by this Kirk and kingdome. 

" 12. His entertanying private correspondentis with ma- 
lignants and enemys to the cause, contrarie to the Cove- 
nant, quhairby he wes at last drawn to ane pubHct and 
scandalous deserting of the publict judicatories of this king- 
dome, so contrarie to his oath, treatie, declaration, and 
profession, quhairupon followed many offences ; and to 
joyne with malignants and perverse men quho were, by his 
warrand, encouraged to take airms at such a tyme, to the 
hazarding of the cause, and fostering jealousie, and disturb- 
ing the piece of the kingdome. 

" These things being sensiblie layet out before the Lord, 
he is, by ardent prayers, to be entreated to do away with 
the contraversie he hes againes the King and his House for 
these transgressions, and that he may be gratiouslie pleaced 
to bless the Kingis person and government." 

Such were the strange " causes of the solemn fast,'" held 
on the very day after Christmas day 1650 ; on which I 
need offer no comment, farther than that we may easily 

10 



146 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

imagine how poor Charles would feel when, instead of spend- 
ing his Christmas as he had been used to do, he was doom- 
ed to listen to a long sermon, or perhaps a series of them, 
in which his own supposed sins and those of his forefathers 
were impudently cast in his teeth by men whose own faults 
were immeasurably greater than theirs. 

This document proves how little the King had gained by 
concession, and by repeatedly signing documents which he 
abhorred, and by making professions in accordance with the 
Covenanters^ utmost wishes. These men had in a manner 
forced him to sacrifice both conscience and consistency 
in order to gratify them, and still they were dissatisfied ! 
They probably felt that, owing to all their favourite schemes 
being uniformly thwarted, the frowning dispensations of 
Providence, and the misgiving of their own minds, they had 
got into a false and fatal position ; but unhappily, instead 
of seeing and turning from the error of their ways, they did 
what too many do under like circumstances, only pursued 
the same ways with renewed eagerness, till they no longer 
had the power, or even the desire, to extricate themselves ; 
and thus were left to sufi^er that severest of all earthly 
punishments, to " eat the fruit of their own ways, and be 
filled with their own devices."" 

I will now close the transactions of this year with the 
words of the same Diarist from whom I have quoted the 
foregoing document : — '• So to end this year of God 1 650 ; 
this kingdom was for the most part spoiled and overrun 
with the enemy, even from Berwick to the town of Ayr ; 
there being English garrisons in all quarters of these bounds, 
the land mourning, languishing, and fading, and left de- 
solate ; every part thereof shut up ; and no safe going out 
nor coming in. And many treacherous dealers did deal 
very treacherously ; the Lord hiding his face all this time 
for the sins of Scotland." 

I shall only farther observe, that Mr Blair was at this 
time at Perth, acting as chaplain to the King, and endea- 
vouring to reconcile the Ultra-Convenanters to the new 
measures. " He abode at Perth," says his biographer, Mr 
Kow, " attending the King and his family, so long as his 



JANUARY 1651. 147 

health continued ; but, he falhng unwell, left Perth, and 
came home to St Andrews some few days before the Coro- 
nation.'' 

Cromwell was in Edinburgh on the 28th December, as 
appears from a letter of his to the Speaker on some ordi- 
nary business.^ 



As I stated before, the Coronation of the King had been 
fixed to take place at Scone on the 1st January J 65 1, and 
this ceremony was accordingly carried into effect on the day 
appointed. 

Scone, before the Reformation, had been an Augustinian 
Monastery, in the chapel of which, the Kings of Scotland 
had been crowned from the time of Malcolm III. (tradi- 
tionally, indeed, from a much earlier period), on a stone 
placed in a chair, which had been long religiously preserved 
for the purpose ; and, moreover, part of the monastic build- 
ings had been set aside as a royal residence. But at the 
Reformation, a lawless mob, under the influence of John 
Knox, had destroyed both the monastery and its church. At 
the time under our review, a mansion-house had been erected 
on the site by Lord Scone, who had had the monastic lands 
sacrilegiously erected into a temporal lordship in his favour 
by James VI. ; and this house was still styled a " palace,'' 
from its being built very near the spot where the royal re- 
sidence had stood. Charles's usual abode, while in Perth, 
was Gowrie House ; but on this occasion, for the greater 
convenience of the ceremonial, he took up his temporary 
abode at the palace ; and on his way thither, was accom- 
panied by his body-guard and the chief of the Scottish nobi- 
lity, with much pomp and show, and display of banners, 
riding in procession between two lines of soldiers, which ex- 
tended the whole distance from Perth to the village of 
Scone. 

1 Gary's Memorials, i. p. 243. 



148 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES TI. 

A parish church had been built, not many years before 
this time, within a short distance of where the old abbey 
had stood, and in this Charles was crowned ; but the church 
has now ceased to exist, with the sole exception of a ruined 
aisle, which is preserved as a burying-ground for the noble 
family of Mansfield, the heirs of Lord Scone, though not in 
a direct line, and the inheritors of the property. 

The following account of the Coronation is borrowed from 
a contemporary work. — All I have done is to omit some un- 
important details, and to make a few passing observations ; 
but I have made no alterations except in the insertion of a 
few commas, and the speUing of some of the words. 

" First, the King's Majesty, in a prince's robe, was con- 
ducted from his bed-chamber, in the Palace of Scone, by 
the Constable on his right hand, and the Marischall on his 
left, to the chamber of presence : and there, was placed in 
a choir under a Cloth of State, by the Lord of Angus, the 
chamberlain appointed by the King for that day ; and there, 
after a little repose, the noblemen, with the Commissioners 
of Barons and Burghs, entered the hall and presented them- 
selves before his Majesty. 

" Thereafter, the Lord Chamberlain spoke to the King 
to this purpose — 'Sir, Your good subjects desire you 
may be crowned as the righteous and lawful heir of the 
Crown of this Kingdom ; that you would maintain religion 
as it is presently professed and established^ conform to the 
National Covenant, and Solemn League and Covenant, ac- 
cording to your declaration at Dunfermline, in August last ; 
also that you would be graciously pleased to receive them 
under your Highness' protection ; to govern them by the 
laws of the kingdom, and to defend them in their rights and 
liberties by your royal power, offering themselves in a most 
humble manner to your Majesty, with their vows, to be- 
stow land, life, and what else is in their power, for the main- 
tenance of religion, for the safety of your Majesty^s sacred 
person, and maintenance of your Crown, which they entreat 
your Majesty to accept, and pray Almighty God that for 
many years you may happily enjoy the same.' " 

" The King made this answer — ' I do esteem the affec- 



JANUARY 1651. 149 

tion of my good people more than the crowns of many king- 
doms, and shall be ready, by God's assistance, to bestow 
my life in their defence, wishing to live no longer than I 
may see Religion and this Kingdom flourish in all happi- 
ness; " 

" Thereafter, the Commissioners of Boroughs and of Barons 
and the Noblemen accompanied his Majesty to the Kirk of 
Scone, in order and rank according to their quality, two 
and two ; — 

'' The Spurs were carried by the Earl of Eglinton. 

" Next, the Sword by the Earl of Rothes. 

" Then the Sceptre by the Earl of Crawford and Lindsay. 

" And the Crown by the Marquis of Argyll, immediately 
before the King. 

" Then came the King, with the great Constable on his 
right hand, and the great Marischall on his left, his train 
being carried by the Lord Erskine, the Lord Montgomery, 
the Lord Newbottle, and the Lord Mackline, four EarFs 
eldest sons, under a canopy of crimson velvet, supported by 
six EarPs sons, to-wit, the Lord Drummond, the Lord Car- 
negie, the Lord Ramsay, the Lord Johnstone, the Lord 
Brechin, the Lord Yester; and the six carriers supported 
by six noblemen's sons. 

" Thus the King's Majesty entered the Kirk. 

" The kirk being fitted and prepared with a table where- 
upon the honours were laid, and the chair set in a fitting 
place for his Majesty's hearing of the sermon over against 
the minister, and another chair on the other side where he 
sat when he received the Crown ; before which, there was 
a bench decently covered, as also seats about for Noblemen, 
Barons, and Burgesses. 

" And there being also a stage in a fit place erected of 
1 4 foot square, about 4 foot high, from the ground, covered 
with carpets, with two stairs, one from the west, and ano- 
ther to the east ; upon which great stage, there was another 
little stage erected, some two foot high, ascending by two 
steps, on which the throne or chair of State was set. 

" The kirk thus fittingly prepared, the King's Majesty 
entereth the same, accompanied as aforesaid, and first set 



150 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

himself in his chair for hearing of the sermon ; and all being 
quietly composed into attention, Master Robert Douglas, 
Moderator of the Commission of the Greneral Assembly, 
after calling upon God by prayer, preached the Coronation 
Sermon/' 

I think it useless to give this discourse, as it is very long, 
and not very edifying. Douglas was reckoned one of the 
most moderate of the Presbyterians ; and yet, when alluding 
to the ancient and significant ceremony of anointing kings 
with oil at their coronation, he brings in the following sen- 
tence regarding Episcopacy, which had, twelve years before, 
been disestablished and overthrown : — " There are here who 
were witnesses of the Coronation of the late King.^ The 
Bishops behoved to perform that rite ; but now, hy the blessing 
of God, popery tindprelacy are removed. The Bishops, or limbs 
of Anticlirist, are put to the door. Let the anointing of kings 
with oil go to the door with them, and let them never come 
in again." Considering the distracted state of Scotland at 
this time, and ever since prelacy had been " put to the 
door," there seemed little reason to thank God for the 
change ; but as to the innocent oil, it is difficult to discover 
more superstition in that, than in the spurs, sword, crown, 
and sceptre, used on this very occasion ; each of which was 
an emblem of some moral virtue, or religious truth. Not 
only so, but the preacher had chosen for the subject of his 
sermon the very suitable text in 2 Kings xi. 1 2 ; — " And 
he (Jehoiada the priest) brought forth the king''s son, and 
put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony ; and 
they made him king, and anointed Mm^ Here, then, is 
divine authority for the use of oil in the coronation of kings, 
and for their being crowned by an ecclesiastic ; and yet, 
such was the disposition of the ministers of that period to 
do things by the rule of contraries, that they openly de- 
nounced the ceremony of anointing, and nominated a lay 
Peer to place the crown upon the King's head ! 

1 Charles I. in 1633. Calderwood, speaking of the Coronation of the infant 
James VI., says, " About the anointing there was a sharp dispute ; but in the 
end, he was anointed, notwithstanding Mr Knox and other preachers repined 
at this Jewish ceremony."" The Scottish Reformers took just as much out of 
the Old Testament as suited their purpose, and omitted the rest. 



JANUARY 1651. 151 

Let one more extract from the sermon suffice ; — " There 
are many sins upon our King and his family. Sin will make 
the surest crown that ever men set on to totter. The sins 
of former kings had made this crown to totter. I shall not 
insist here [on this], seeing there hath been a solemn day 
of humiliation through the land, on Thursday last, for the 
sins of the royal family. I wish the Lord may bless it ; 
and desire the King may be truly humbled for Ms own sins, 
and tlie sins of his fathers house, which have been great.*" 
Even this otherwise prudent and sensible man could not 
avoid harping on this discordant string, in the King's own 
presence, on the day of his coronation ! 

" Sermon being ended, prayer was made for a blessing 
upon the doctrine delivered. 

" The King being to renew the Covenants, first the Na- 
tional Covenant, then the Solemn League and Covenant, 
were distinctly read. 

" After the reading of these Covenants, the minister 
prayed for grace to perform the contents of the Covenants, 
and for faithful steadfastness in the oath of God ; and then 
(the ministers Ctpmmissioners of the General Assembly 
being present, standing before the pulpit), he ministered the 
oath unto the King ; who, kneeling and lifting up his right 
hand, did swear in the words following : — 

" I Charles, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, 
do assure and declare, by my solemn oath, in the presence 
of Almighty God, the searcher of hearts, my allowance and 
approbation of the National Covenant, and of the Solemn 
League and Covenant above written, and faithfully oblige 
myself to prosecute the ends thereof in my station and 
calling ; and that I, for myself and successors, shall consent 
to and agree to all acts of Parliament enjoining the Na- 
tional Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant, and 
fully establishing Presbyterial government, the Directory of 
Worship, Confession of Faith, and Catechisms, in the king- 
dom of Scotland, as they are approven by the General As- 
semblies of this Kirk, and Parliament of this kingdom ; and 
that I shall give my royal assent to all acts and ordinances 
of Parliament passed, or to be passed, enjoining the same 



152 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

in my other dominions ; and that I shall observe these in 
mine own practice and family, and shall never make oppo- 
sition to any of these, or endeavour any change thereof." 

" After the King had thus solemnly sworn the National 
Covenant, the League and Covenant, and the King's oath 
subjoined unto both, being drawn up on a fair parchment, 
the King did inscribe the same in presence of all. 

" Thereafter, the King ascendeth the stage, and sitteth 
down in the Chair of State. Then the Lords, Croat Con- 
stable, and Marischall, went to the four corners of the stage, 
w^ith the Lyon-King-at-Arms going before them, who spoke 
to the people these words : — ' Sirs, I do present unto you 
the King, Charles, the rightful and undoubted heir of the 
Crown and dignity of this realm. This day is, by the Par- 
liament of this kingdom, appointed for his Coronation ; and 
are you willing to have him for your King, and become sub- 
ject to his commandments V 

" Tn which action, the King's Majesty stood up, shewing 
himself to the people, in each corner ; and the people ex- 
pressed their willingness by cheerful acclamations, in these 
words — ' God save the King, Charles the Second.' 

" Thereafter the King's Majesty, supported by the Con- 
stable and Marischall, cometh down from the stage, and 
sitteth down on a chair, where he heard the sermon. The 
minister, accompanied by the ministers before mentioned, 
cometh from the pulpit toward the King, and requireth if 
he was wilhng to take the oath appointed to be taken at 
the Coronation. 

" The King answered, he was most willing. 

" Then the oath of Coronation, as it is contained in the 
eighth act of the first Parliament of King James (VL) 
being read by the Lyon-King-at-Arms, the tenor whereof 
folio weth:"— 

I need not quote the words of this oath, but observe 
only, that it contains the clause, that the King was to be 
" careful to root out of his land and empire, all heretics 
and enemies to the true worship of God, that should be 
convicted hj the true Kirk of God of the foresaid crimes." 
" The minister then tendered the oath unto the King, who, 



JANUARY 1651. J 53 

kneeling and holding up his right hand, sware in these 
words, ' By the eternal and Almighty God, who liveth and 
reigneth for ever, I shall observe and keep all that is con- 
tained in this oath/ 

On this oath I cannot avoid remarking, firsts that the 
meaning of the words, " the true kirk of God,"' had greatly 
changed since the time of James VI., when the oath was 
framed; for, the Knoxian, or Superintendent system, was 
then ^' the true Kirk of God ;" next, it became the Episcopal 
Church ; and accordingly, Charles I. took the very same 
oath at his coronation in 1 633, when all were Episcopalians ; 
and now^ it was the Presbyterian or Covenanting Kirk, — to 
so many fluctuations had religion in Scotland been subject 
since the Eeformation ! Secondly^ " Heretics," in the time 
of James VI., meant exclusively Romanists ; but now^ Pre- 
latists, Malignants, and sectaries of all kinds, were included, 
all indeed but Presbyterians. Thirdly^ If Charles II. were al- 
lowed to put his own construction on his oath, " to root out 
all heretics,"" he might justify his persecution of the Cove- 
nanters after his Restoration, whom he no doubt thought 
he had good reason to consider as the worst kind of heretics. 

" This done, the King's Majesty sitteth in his chair and 
reposeth himself a little. 

" Then the King ariseth from his chair, and is disrobed 
by the Lord Great Chamberlain, of the princely robe, where- 
with he entered the kirk, and is invested by the said Cham- 
berlain in his royal robes. 

" Thereafter, the King being brought to the chair on the 
north side of the Kirk, supported as formerly, the sword 
was brought by Sir William Cockburn of Langtown, gentle- 
man usher, from the table, and delivered to the Lyon-King- 
at-arms, w^ho giveth it to the Lord Great Constable, who 
putteth the same in the King's hand, saying. Sir, receive 
this kingly sword, for the defence of the faith of Christ, and 
protection of his Kirk, and of the true religion as it is pre- 
sently professed within this kingdom, and according to the 
National Covenant and League and Covenant, and for exe- 
cuting equity and justice, and for punishment of all iniquity 
and injustice. 



154 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U. 

" This done, the Great Constable receiveth the sword 
from the King, and girdeth the same about his side. 

" Thereafter the King sitteth down in his chair ; and 
then the spurs were put on him by the Earl Marischall. 

" Thereafter, Archibald, Marquis of Argyll, having taken 
the Crown in his hands, the minister prayed to this pur- 
pose : ' That the Lord would purge the Crown from the sins 
and transgressions of tliem that did reign before Mm ; That it 
might be a pure Crown ; that God would settle the Crown 
upon the King's head ; and, since men that set it on were 
not able to settle it, that the Lord would put it on and pre- 
serve it.** And then the said Marquis put the Crown on 
the King's head. 

" Which done, the Lyon-King- at- arms, the Great Con- 
stable standing by him, causeth an herald to call the whole 
noblemen, one by one, according to their ranks ; who, com- 
ing before the King, kneeling, and with their hands touch- 
ing the Crown on the King's head, swore these words : ' By 
the eternal and Almighty God who liveth and reigneth for 
ever, I shall support thee to my uttermost.' And when 
they had done, then all the nobility held up their hands, 
and swore to be loyal and true subjects, and faithful to the 
Crown. The Earl Marischall, with the Lyon-King-at-arms, 
going to the four corners of the stage, the Lyon proclaim- 
eth the obligatory oath of the people ; and the people hold- 
ing up their hands all the time, did swear by the eternal 
and Almighty God who liveth and reigneth for ever, ' We 
become your liege men, and truth and faith shall bear unto 
you, and live and die with you against all manner of false- 
hood whatsoever, in your service, according to the National 
Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant.' Then did 
the Earls and Viscounts put on their gowns, and the Lyon 
likewise put on his. Then did the Lord Chamberlain loose 
the Sword wherewith the King was girded, and drew it, 
and delivered it drawn into the King's hands, and the King 
put it in the hands of the Great Constable, to carry it 
naked before him. 

" Then John, Earl of Crawford and Lindseiy, took the 
sceptre and put it in the King's right hand, saying, ' Sir, re- 



JANUARY 1651. 155 

ceive this sceptre, the sign of royal power of the kingdom, 
that you may govern yourself right, and defend all the 
Christian people committed by God to your charge, punish- 
ing the wicked and protecting the just.' 

" Then did the King ascend the stage, attended by the 
officers of the Crown, and nobility, and was installed in the 
Royal throne by Archibald, Marquis of Argyle, saying : 
' Stand, and hold fast from henceforth the place whereof 
you are the lawful and righteous heir, by a long and lineal 
succession of your fathers, which is now delivered unto you, 
by authority of Almighty God.' 

" When the King was set down upon the throne, the 
minister spoke to him a word of exhortation as followeth : 
' Sir, you are set down upon the throne,' &c., the purport 
being, that if the King kept the Covenants, his throne 
should be established in righteousness ; but, if otherwise, it 
w^ould be overturned. 

" Then the Lord Chancellor w^ent to the four corners of 
the stage, the Tjyon-King-at-arms going before him, and 
proclaimed his Majesty's free pardon to all breakers of pe- 
nal statutes, and made offer thereof ; whereupon the people 
cried, ' God save the King ! ' 

" Then the King, supported by the great Constable and 
Marischall, and accompanied by the Chancellor, arose from 
the throne and went out at a door, prepared for the pur- 
pose, to a stage, and showeth himself to the people without, 
who clapped their hands, and cried with a loud voice, a 
long time, ' God save the King !' 

" Then the King returning, and sitting down upon the 
throne, delivered the sceptre to the Earl of Crawford and 
Lindsay to be carried before him ; thereafter the Lyon King- 
at-arms rehearsed the royal line of the kings upward to 
Fergus the First. 

" Then the Lyon called the lords one by one, who, kneel- 
ing and holding their hands betwixt the King's hands, did 
swear these words, ' By the eternal and Almighty God, 
who liveth and reigneth for ever, I do become your liege- 
man, and truth and faith shall bear unto you, and live and 



156 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U. 

die with you, against all manner of folks whatsoever in 
your service, according to the National Covenant, and 
Solemn League and Covenant.' 

" And every one of them kissed the King's left cheek. 

" When these solemnities were ended, the minister, stand- 
ing before the King on his throne, pronounced the blessing. 

" ' The Lord bless thee, and save thee ; the Lord hear 
thee in the day of trouble ; the name of the God of Jacob 
defend thee ; the Lord send thee help from his sanctuary, 
and strengthen thee out of Zion. Amen.' 

" After the blessing was pronounced, the minister went 
to the pulpit, and had the following exhortation, the King 
sitting still upon the throne : — ' Ye have this day a King 
crowned, and entered into covenant with God and his 
people. Look, both King and people, that ye keep this 
Covenant, and beware of the breach of it ; and that ye may 
be the more careful to keep it, I will lay a few things be- 
fore you.' " 

The purport of these " few things" was to shew that 
God would be avenged on every one who should break the 
Solemn League and Covenant ; comparing this merely 
human bond, framed for factious and temporary purposes, 
wdth the everlasting Covenants of the Old Testament, which 
God entered into with the Jews for the observance of the 
laws which he had himself given them ! 

" Then did the King's Majesty descend from the stage 
with the crown on his head, and receiving again the sceptre 
in his hand, returned with the whole train in solemn manner 
to his palace, the sword being carried before him." 

Baillie, who was present at the ceremony, writes thus 
concerning it : " This day we have done what I earnestly 
desired, and long expected, crowned our noble King with 
all solemnity at Scone, so peacefully and magnificently as 
if no enemy had been among us. This is of God ; for it was 
Cromwell's purpose, which I thought he might easily have 
performed, to have marred by arms that action, at least 
the solemnity of it. The Protesters by all their power 
would have opposed it ; others prolonged it so long as they 



JANUARY 1651. 157 

were able ; always blessed be God, it is this day celebrate 
with great joy and contentment to all honest hearted men 
here. Mr Douglas, from 2d Kings xi., Joash's coronation, 
had a very pertinent, wise, and good sermon. The King 
sware the Covenant, the League and Covenant, and the 
coronation oath. When Argyle put on the crown Mr 
Robert Douglas prayed well. When the Chancellor set 
him on the throne he exhorted well. When all was ended, 
he, with great earnestness, pressed sincerity and con- 
stancy in the Covenant on the King, dilating at length 
King James' breach of the Covenant, pursued yet against 
the family. From Neh. v., 13, God's casting the king out 
of his lap ; and the xxxivth Jer., many plagues on him, if 
he do not sincerely keep the oaths now taken. He closed 
up all with a prayer, and the xxth Psalm." 

A Scottish modern writer, of the Covenanting school, 
whose book is now before me, makes the following remark 
on the Coronation of Charles II. : " Perhaps our venerable 
ancestors are, on few points, more vulnerable than in this 
matter of administering so many solemn oaths to one whose 
w^iole conduct afforded so little evidence of sincerity in 
swearing them. But it must be admitted, that many of the 
ministers contemplated the matter with horror ; and that 
the good men who took a part in it, did so, clinging to a 
hope that Charles -would never surely abandon a cause he 
had so solemnly espoused."" The truth is, Charles was 
compelled to " espouse" a wife, so to speak, whose per- 
son, manner, and dispositions, were odious to him; and 
to w^hom no efforts of his could ever have reconciled him, 
though he put on the semblance of an affection for her. 
He was so situated that he must either act the hypocrite, 
or make no attempt for the recovery of his crown. Of 
course, a truly upright man would have preferred the latter 
alternative. But who was the cause of his being put into 
this anomalous condition I Undoubtedly the Covenanters 
were chiefly to blame for it ; because they forced him to 
sign a Covenant w^hich had no precedent in any part of 
Christendom ; which prevailed even in Scotland only for 



158 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

a few years, and was then abjured for ever; and, which 
Charles himself was obliged, after his restoration, solemnly 
to contradict by his English coronation oath, — an oath 
which had been taken by his ancestors for many cen- 
turies, and which pledged him to uphold the very pre- 
lacy which in Scotland he had been made repeatedly to de- 
nounce ! His Scottish supporters boasted that he was " the 
only Covenanted King in the world," — the very singularity 
w^hich should have led them to doubt the truth of their 
position, since that never can be true in Christianity which 
is local and temporary, We must adhere to that which 
has prevailed " always and everywhere," in preference to 
that which is comparatively of yesterday. It is impossible 
that any system of Christianity, which is limited to a 
small corner of the world, and to a small corner of modern 
times, should be any part of that " Holy Catholic Church" 
which was founded by the Apostles, and from which it 
was promised that the Divine Presence was never to be 
withdrawn. The Covenant, therefore, being a local and 
temporary obligation, for that reason alone could not be 
identified with Christianity ; and hence, if Charles II. did 
wrong in taking it, and even in breaking it, the Presby- 
terian ministers did worse in imposing it ; because, from 
their profession and experience, they ought to have known 
better. And, let me add, that the repeated falsehoods 
which the King was in a manner taught and even com- 
pelled to utter, accompanied as they were with solemn 
appeals to heaven for their truth, could not fail to harden 
his heart, and pave the way for the mischiefs and misdo- 
ings of his after life. It is, indeed, difficult to avoid mora- 
lizing, on comparing the Coronation of Charles at Scone in 
1650, with that at London in 1661. Argyll, who now put 
the crown on his head, then executed. General Monk, who 
was now warring against, and seeking the life of " Charles 
Stewart," tlien the most conspicuous supporter of his throne; 
and the Solemn League and Covenant, which was now all 
but idolized, then burnt by the hands of the common hang- 
man ! 



JANUARY 1G51. 159 

The gossiping Wodrow, in his " Analecta," i. 67, gives 
the following anecdote : " ^ly brother tells me that he had 
this account of the Marquis of Argyll from Mr Hasty, who 
had it from ^Ir Neill Gillies, who is in the family of Argyll, 
and had it from the Marchioness, that after the King's 
Coronation, when the Marquis of Argyll was in Stirling, 
he waited long for an opportunity of dealing freely with 
him, anent his being contrary to the Covenant, and favour- 
ing of Malignants, and other sins. One Sabbath night, 
after supper, he went into his closet, and there used a great 
deal of freedom with him ; and the King was seemingly 
sensible, and they came at length to "pray and mourn to- 
gether till tioo or three in the morning ; and when he [the 
Marquis] came home to his lady she was surprised, and 
told him she never knew him so untimeous. He said he 
had never had such a sweet night in the world ; and told 
her what liberty they had in prayer, and how much con- 
vinced the King now was. She said plainly they were cro- 
codile tears, and that that night would cost him his head, 
which came to pass." Perhaps I do wrong to quote a 
passage which carries so much absurdity on its face. But 
it is extremely characteristic of Wodrow, particularly that 
part of it which makes the story pass through so many 
hands before it reaches him ; and the discovery also that 
an event had been foretold long after the event came to 



NicoU informs us, that Cromwell, " not being well con- 
tent with the King's Coronation, used all means to get him 
cut off, as was evidenced by an Enghshman, called Moss, who, 
being sent out to poison the King, was taken at St Johnston 
[Perth], cast into prison, and, upon his own confession, con- 
demned to die ; but, by the means of the Earl of Lothian, his 
execution was still delayed ; and, in the end, he was relieved 
from prison when Cromwell came to Fife, and took Perth." 
He farther informs us, that the Sectarian army w^anted not 
those among the Scots who, by means of bribery, gave them 
secret intelligence of all that passed north of the Forth. 
Some of the traitors were discovered and punished. One 
Mein, the son of a merchant in Edinburgh, was appro- 



] 60 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

hended " for a spy and giver of intelligence to Cromwell, 
which he confessed under his hand f and all the baillies of 
Burntisland were for a long time confined to prison, on sus- 
picion of endeavouring to betray their peninsula to the 
enemy. 

It appears from the Life of Blair,i that the Presbytery 
of Stirling, which was under the influence of James Guthrie 
and David Bennet, was very violent in its opposition to the 
law recently passed admitting Malignants into the army ; 
and went so far as to pass a " Remonstrance against the 
present conjuration with the Malignant party .^'' A copy of 
this they had sent to Cromwell, which evinced their lean- 
ings to that enemy of their King and country. This copy 
Cromwell thought fit to print, and disperse both among the 
Scots and English ; thinking it might act as a firebrand, 
and so serve his purposes. The Commission of the Assem- 
bly met at Perth, immediately after the Coronation, under 
the moderatorship of James Wood ; and their first work 
was to take into consideration the above Remonstrance, to 
which they framed a reply, and sent copies of it to all the 
presbyteries in Scotland. 

On the 7th of the month, the same Commission issued 
what they call a solemn warning to all the members of the 
Kirk ; w^ith an answer to all such as act or comply with the 
Sectarian army now infesting this country. In this docu- 
ment they require all persons " not only not to speak fa- 
vourably of the enemy, but to obey the just commands of 
the civil magistrates in defence of our religion, king, and 
country, against those who have destroyed whatever was 
pious and honest in their own country, and intend no less 
in this, if the Lord prevent it not, by stirring up all good 
and godly men against them.'' They also subjoined some 
hints to the ruling authorities, as to the inactivity of the 
army ; and the cowardice or treachery whereby Edinburgh 
Castle, and certain other strongholds, had recently been 
surrendered to the enemy. For this seasonable warning 
the Lord Chancellor was desired by the King and Com- 
mittee of Estates to render due thanks to the Commission. 

1 Life of Blair, by Row (Wodrow Society Edition), p. 256. 



JANUARY 1651. 161 

The next meeting of the Commission was at St Andrews, 
in the middle of the month, where a conference was held 
between the leading ministers of the two parties, namely, 
James Wood, Robert Blair, Robert Douglas, and James 
Sharpe,! on the one side, and James Gruthrie, David Ben- 
net, and Samuel Rutherford, on the other. But it ended, 
like most disputes, in the parties leaving off where they be- 
gan.2 The moderate brethren, finding they could make no 
impression on Gruthrie or his colleague, proposed to them 
that they should give up preaching for a time in Stirling, 
and offered to supply their places with ministers better af- 
fected to the Grovernment ; as it was thought most desirable 
that, in a garrison town, which was the head-quarters of 
the army, nothing ought to be promulgated from the pulpit 
hostile to the existing laws. But this reasonable proposal 
the two refractory ministers would by no means agree to, 
but still determined to use every means to strengthen their 
party, and spread their opinions. Nor was any thing far- 
ther done for the present to check them, except sending 
one or two of the moderate ministers for the purpose of 
preaching to the troops in the garrison. The Duke of 
Hamilton, who had hitherto been living in retirement in 
the Isle of Arran, applied to this Commission to be recon- 
ciled to the Kirk, on making his due penitence, but, owing 
to the opposition of Guthrie's party, his case was deferred. 

At the close of this Commission at St Andrews, the bre- 
thren drew and sent up a remonstrance to the Government, 
complaining of some defects in their administration ; par- 
ticularly, that so little progress had been made in raising 
the levies, and that some inferior officers had been employed 
in the army who had not satisfied the Kirk. The Govern- 
ment replied that they would do their best to remedy these 

1 This was the future celebrated Archbishop of St Andrews ; and all T shall 
remark here is, that, having been all along a zealous adherent of the Resolu- 
tion or Moderate party, he was deputed by tJiem to the Court of Charles II., 
at the time of the Restoration, and not by the Presbyterians at large, as has 
been artfully represented by the enemies of his memory. Never was the 
truth of the proverb, " give a dog an ill name and hang him," so remarkably 
exemplified as in the case of Archbishop Sharp. 

^ Blair's Life, p. 257. 

11 



162 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

inconveniences ; but they complained in their turn, that the 
opposition of some of the ministers to the existing laws was 
a great hindrance to the public welfare. 

On the 12th January, General Middleton, the late Com- 
mander of the Highland army, on whom sentence of excom- 
munication had been pronounced by James Guthrie, was 
released from his excommunication by the Rev. Mr Robert- 
son, " and did his penance in sackcloth in Dundee Church ;'' 
while Colonel Strachan, the leader of the Westland army, 
who had gone over to Cromwell, was on the same day "excom- 
municate, and delivered to the Devil in the Church of Perth, 
by Mr Alexander Rollock." Some other " comply ers with 
sectaries,'' as they were designated, were soon after treated 
in the same manner, particularly, Walter Dundas, younger 
of Dundas, the late Governor of Edinburgh Castle, and his 
Lieutenant, Andrew Abernethie, Sir John Swinton of 
Swinton, Major Johnston, Lieutenant William Govan, 
and others, who were all found guilty of favouring the 
English and sectarianism. They were even declared guilty 
of " treason, and forfeiture of life, lands, honour, and 
goods." So much had the tide by this time turned in fa- 
vour of the King, that Alexander Hope, and Sir John his 
brother, and another brother (Lord Craighalls, a Lord of 
Session) were arrested, tried, and confined to their resi- 
dences in the country, for simply proposing that the King 
should give up his pretensions to the Crown of England, 
and that part of Scotland which was then in the hands of 
Cromwell, and content himself with the remainder.^ 

The following letter, written by one of the King's suite, 
from Perth, on the 20th January (and enclosed by Sir E. 
Nicholas to the Marquis of Ormond), alludes to the fore- 
going fact, and throws some new light on what was passing 
there at that time :^ " All things now go on very cordially 
and unanimously for His Majesty's interest ; so that within 
a month, we doubt not but once more to have 20,000 men 
in the field, and those, of other manner of spirits and loy- 
alty than the last army which was overthrown. All, with- 
out exception, are to bring what they can into the field. 

1 Balfour's Annals, iv. p. 240-246. ^ From the Carte Collections. 



JANUARY 1651. 163 

The Marquis of Himtly's and Middleton's excommunica- 
tions are taken up, and they arc admitted to command. 
The Kirk, loho govern all^ are now as violent for the King 
and his interest as ever they were against both, they having 
excommunicated those that are gone in to Cromwell, and 
have set forth a decree that no man shall presume to pray 
or preach against the present resolutions and proceedings 
of his Majesty and the Parliament, under pain of being 
censured by them ; and that there shall be no such word 
heard more as Malignant. Sir Alexander Hope (whom his 
Majesty, at the solicitation of some of his friends, hath made 
gentleman usher of his privy chamber, and master- falconer 
in this country), came within these two days, and made 
his addresses to the King, to let him know that there were 
two brothers of his (both Lords of Session), that were 
much troubled in conscience to see him take those ways he 
now was in ; and, perceiving his destruction if he persisted 
in them, they were restless till they sent his Majesty their 
humble advice, which was, that he should speedily treat 
with Cromwell, quit his interest in England and Ireland, 
give cautionary towns for the performing of the articles, and 
content himself with this country, till he had a better op- 
portunity to recover the rest. To which his Majesty reso- 
lutely and discreetly answered, that lie would see hotli him 
and his brothers hanged at one end of a rope^ and Cromwell at 
the other ^ before he would do any such thing ; and went in- 
stantly and complained of it to the Committee of Estates ; 
but what they will do with them is not yet known. By this 
you may see by what rules we were governed when we first 
came hither, and with what strange difficulties this poor king 
hath struggled; but now I hope the worst is past, for so great 
a change as is now here could never be hoped or expected." 
In the foregoing letter, it is stated that the Marquis of 
Huntly had been released from his excommunication, and 
admitted to command. The latter part of this statement 
seems to have been premature ; for I find it asserted in a 
letter of the beginning of March, that " Huntly cannot be 
admitted to charge at all, though he could do the King 
better service than any Scotsman."'' On the 25th of that 



164 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

month, however, his late father s forfeiture was removed, 
and he was restored to his proper rank. A letter of April, 
notwithstanding, says, " Though the Marquis of Huntly be 
freed of his excommunication, and all other things imposed 
on him, yet he is not permitted to have any command in 
the army, which shews the union is not as yet entire among 
them, but I hope it will be in a little more time.^' At the 
end of April, accordingly, he was permitted to command as 
many men as he could raise, which, it was thought, would 
be nearly five thousand.^ 

From the Carte Collections ^ it appears, that early in 
February, strenuous efforts were made to increase and 
strengthen the royal army ; General Middleton was sent 
into the shires of Moray and Ross, to expedite the levies 
in those quarters ; from which he returned, in three 
months, with 8000 foot and 2000 horse. Sixteen good 
leather guns were in readiness. The Earl of Athol had a 
regiment of 1000 " as good foot as any in the world."' The 
Earls of Crawford and Kelly had each a regiment of 1500 
men, all of them raised in Fife. General Massey had 800 
horse, consisting chiefly of English and other strangers or 
foreigners. The rest of the Scots nobility were busy in or- 
ganising and bringing up their men ; so that, when they 
all came forward, it was expected there would be at least 
25,000 ; while " there were coming over from Cromwell daily 
both horse and foot, by ten in a company, and many infe- 
rior officers with them.'' 

In a letter of the 12 th February, Sir E. Nicholas thus 
writes to the Marquis of Ormond, who had left Ireland, and 
gone to Paris : " I am willing to hope the condition of the 
King's affairs in Scotland is better than it was, by the pre- 
sent conjunction of the people there ; which doubtless gives, 
in foreign parts, a better reputation to his Majesty's busi- 
ness than it had of late. But when I call to mind what 
Egyptian reeds the Scots have proved to his Majesty and 
his father, wheresoever they have been leaned on, and what 
irreconcileahle feud there is heUoeen Hamilton and Argyle^ and 
what cause the latter hath to be jealous of the other's 

1 Carte Collections, i. p. 609. 2 Ibid, pp. 446, 453, 454. 



FEBRUARY lb'5]. 165 

getting into power in court or camp, I must confess I very 
much apprehend that there will be some treachery played 
the King, which will be now no difficult matter to effect, so 
many of his faithful subjects being removed from him, and 
all that for the most part attend him being either creatures 
of Argyle, or at his devotion." ^ 

I can find no detailed account of this feud between Ha- 
milton and Argyll, but only several accidental allusions 
to it. It is easy to conceive that men of such opposite 
political and religious opinions would be at variance ; 
while their high rank, and their desire to acquire influence 
over the King, would naturally bring them into frequent 
collision. The various letters in the " Carte Collections,"" 
written in the spring of this year, speak of the fact of the 
feud between these rival chieftains ; and I am the less scru- 
pulous about giving extracts from these letters, relative 
to this and other points, because, as far as I know, they 
have hitherto been unaccountably overlooked by the histo- 
rians of this period, notwithstanding that they throw light 
on many very interesting particulars. One of them, writ- 
ten in February, says, " Marquis Argyll will not permit 
Duke Hamilton to have any power or command at all, 
but hath a principal care to keep him under, so as his Grace 
meddles with nothing ; but having done his penance, he is 
absolved and sits still."' Another, of a later date, from Sir 
E. Nicholas, has those words : — " I perceive those with the 
King fear nothing so much as treachery among the Scots. 
The feud between the two great Lords, Hamilton and 
Argyll, is still as high as ever. I wish they, and all others 
with them, that will not heartily unite against such tried 
rebels (meaning the English), were beyond the farthest 
Indies. It's written to me that the Duke of Buckingham 
is wholly Argyll's, for which I am very sorry. All letters 
affirm that the King is very intelligent, industrious, and 
active in all his affairs, as well in the Council as in the 
camp ; and but too forward on all occasions to hazard his 
person against the rebels.'' Another letter, of a later date, 
from the same personage, says, — " The letter from Scot- 

1 Carte Collections, i. p. 403. 



166 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

land speaks Argyll to be much suspected by the people, 
as well as by the honester persons of quality ; but that may 
be the report only fancied by him who wrote, he being an 
affectionate person to Duke Hamilton's party." Lastly, 
the Marquis of Ormond thus writes from Paris : — ■" I am 
little knowing in Scottish intrigues ; but by what hath been 
pubhckly acted there, I should judge, that the declining 
of my Lord Argyll's greatness, but more especially of his 
reputation with the people, is the thing of that nature most 
to be wished, though I guess it may be otherwise thought 
of at the Louvre. And seeing there is no present probabi- 
lity that the principal power in that kingdom can fall into 
the hands of any that are absolutely unblemished, I know 
not where it is more to be wished than in Duke Hamil- 
ton."i 

These are the statements and sentiments of men who, 
from their position, had the best means of information, and 
who, from their known prudence and ability, were well fit- 
ted to take a judicious view of what was then going on in 
Scotland. 

About this time Sir Richard Fanshawe, who had been 
the King's secretary some years before, went to him by 
command from Holland, and remained with him till he was 
made prisoner at the battle of Worcester. His lady, in 
her " Memoirs," says that the King received him with great 
kindness ; and that the Presbyterians several times pressed 
him to take the Covenant, but that he never would consent. 

I have already mentioned that certain ministers of the 
Kirk had raised a keen opposition to the admission of 
*' malignants" and " engagers" into the Presbyterian army. 
The Presbyteries of Stirling and Aberdeen, in which there 
was a majority of those Ultra- Covenanters, sent letters of 
remonstrance on this subject to the Commission of the 
Assembly ; and, at the same time, the individual ministers 
of those presbyteries, as well as others who agreed with 
them, began to inveigh from their pulpits against the con- 
duct of their civil and ecclesiastical rulers. They had no 
notion of submitting to a law while it remained such ; but 
1 Carte Collections, i. p. 13 ; ii. pp. 409, 464, 471. 



FEBRUARY 1651. J 67 

when they found they could not get it changed, they used 
all their endeavours to render it ineffectual, Guthrie and 
Bennet, in particular, as we have seen, made themselves 
very conspicuous, by the strong and inflammatory terms in 
which they impugned this measure of government, and those 
who had enacted it ; so much so, that it was thought un- 
safe to allow them to proceed longer in their course un- 
checked. The Chancellor therefore wrote a letter to them 
on the 1 4th of this month, in which, after alluding to their 
fault in preaching against and opposing the public resolu- 
tions of the Church and State, and thereby obstructing the 
levies, and endangering the safety of the country, he sum- 
moned them, in the name of the King and the Estates, to 
repair to Perth on the 19th, and there remain till his Ma- 
jesty ""s return from Aberdeen (to which place he was soon 
to go), after which, a full enquiry should be made into their 
alleged misconduct. These reverend gentlemen, instead of 
obeying this summons, sent their excuse on the 19th, and 
appealed to the General Assembly, as the only court com- 
petent to investigate their case. Upon this, the Chancellor 
wrote a second letter, ordering them to make their appear- 
ance without farther^ delay. They went to Perth accord- 
ingly, where, on the 22d, they gave in " a protestation," to 
the effect that their appearing before the King and Com- 
mittee was not to be taken as an acknowledgement of 
these being the proper judges of things ministerial, which 
could only be determined by the kirk judicatories ; and 
that they were persuaded that the late decision for admit- 
ting malignants into the army, was " contrary to the word 
of God, to the League and Covenant, and to their solemn 
engagement ; and to the constant tenor of the declarations, 
remonstrances, warnings, causes of humiliation, and other 
resolutions of the Kirk, those years past ; and destructive 
to the Covenant and cause of God, scandalous and offensive 
to the godly, and highly provoking to the eyes of the Lord's 
glory."" These agitators, in penning this remonstrance, 
seem to have shut tlieir eyes to three important facts ; firsts 
that there would be an end of all government, if preachers 
had an unlimited license to rail from their pulpits against 



168 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

the existing laws and legislators of the country ; because, 
on this plea, they might give utterance to libel, defamation, 
or even high treason, with impunity ; secondly^ a very large 
majority of those very kirk judicatories, which Guthrie and 
Bennet themselves professed to recognise, had already con- 
demned them ; and, thirdly^ their own Westminster Confes- 
sion of Faith (which they could quote when it suited their 
purpose, and which they had compelled the King to sub- 
scribe against his own convictions), has these words : — 
" The Civil Magistrate hath authority, and it is his duty, to 
take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the Church, 
that the truth of God be kept pure and entire, that all 
blasphemies and heresies be suppressed, all corruptions and 
abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed, 
and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, 
and observed. For the better efifecting whereof, he hath 
power to call synods^ to he present at tJiem^ and to provide that 
whatsoever is transacted in them he according to the mind of 
Godr Now, since their own acknowledged standards had 
conferred so much spiritual power upon the Civil Magistrate, 
as to qualify him to determine what was " the mind of 
God" (and who was this civil magistj^ate if the King was 
not ?) the Presbyterian ministers could have no just ground 
to complain of his exercise of it. Nay, we may go a step far- 
ther, and say, that they had no just ground of complaint if, 
at the Restoration, the same authority should have set aside 
Presbyterianism in favour of Episcopacy, the latter of which, 
there can be no doubt, the King believed to be in accord- 
ance with " the mind of God." 

The King and Estates might have alleged all this against 
Guthrie and Bennet, but, wishing to deal leniently with 
them, they referred the matter to the Commission of the 
Assembly ; and this body passed an act, wherein they state, 
that as the terms in which Messrs Guthrie and Bennet had 
condemned the Government were of the most unqualified 
kind, and as they justified themselves in so doing, so it was 
the Commission's duty to declare that the Church of Scot- 
land, both in her first and second reformation, had expressly 
stated, that the " Civil Magistrate has power and authority. 



FEBRUARY 1651. 169 

and is obliged, in his civil and coercive way, to censure and 
punish idolatry, schism, unsound doctrine, ministers' ne- 
glect or perverseness in doing their ministerial duties and 
functions. And if he may and ought to censure and punish 
these things, may he not cite ministers to compeir before him, 
upon an narrative relating to things of that kind, without 
encroaching or wTonging the liberties and privileges of the 
Kirkf'^ 

When the King returned from Aberdeen in the following 
month, he and the Estates liberated the two ministers in 
question, and gave them leave to return to Stirling; " they 
having promised to the Commissioners that they should be 
content not to preach in Stirling, but that the ministers 
appointed by the Commission should preach both to the 
town and garrison ;" which promise, however, it seems, 
" was not well kept." ^ 

Baillie, in his letters written at this time, thus speaks of 
the factious conduct of some of the ministers : " Mr James 
Guthrie and Patrick Gillespie are going on with their work 
to destroy our state, and rend our Kirk, but we hope it shall 
not be in their power.'"* And again, " but Mr Patrick and 
two or three others, by their cunning and extreme diligence, 
are like to involve the body of the ministers, and by little 
time, the people, into a remediless dissatisfaction." And in 
another letter, of nearly the same date, he says (speaking 
of a meeting of the Presbytery at Glasgow) : " We know 
Mr Patrick, by the multitude of his yeomen elders^ could 
carr}^ what he pleased." And farther, at a synodical meet- 
ing somewhat later, " we proposed to make Mr J. Ferguson 
moderator, but they carried Mr Mowat; and by this I per- 
ceived clearly they had gotten so many silly yeomen pre- 
sently chosen for their purpose, that they could carry in the 
synod whatever they pleased." It affords a curious pic- 
ture of those kirk courts that the parochial ministers could, 
in questions purely ecclesiastical, be outvoted by lay-elders ! 

While the ultra-party were exciting this tumidt in the 

' Balfour's Annals, iv., p. 287. These were surely immense powers for any 
ecclesiastical body to concede to civil rulers ; but having done so, of their own 
accord, and that only a few years before this, they had no right to blame any 
but themselves. « Blair's Life, p. 268. 



1 70 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

Kirk, some of the strongholds in the south of Scotland 
were falling into the hands of the enemy, not from want of 
courage or skill in their defenders, but from want of means 
to hold out longer. In the course of February, Hume 
Castle, commanded by Colonel Oockburn, and Tantallon 
Castle, governed by Sir James Seaton, were surrendered, 
the former to Colonel Fenwick, and the latter to Colonel 
(afterwards General) Monk. The reply of Cockburn to the 
summons of his English opponent is too characteristic to 
be omitted : " Kight honourable, I have received a trum- 
peter of yours, as he tells me, without your pass (he forgot it 
it seems, and left it behind upon the table) to render this 
castle to the Lord- General Cromwell. Please you, I never 
saw your General, nor know your General. As for Hume 
Castle, it stands upon a rock Given at Hume Castle, this 
day, before seven o'clock. So resteth, without prejudice of 
his native country, your most humble servant. 

" John Cockburn.'' 
Meanwhile the King, accompanied by the Duke of 
Hamilton, the Marquis of Argyll, and Lords Lothian, 
Eglinton, Dunfermline, Lauderdale, Newburgh, &c., made 
an excursion, chiefly into Fife and Forfarshire, to further the 
enlistment of the new levies, and to see that every place of 
strength in these counties was in a proper state of defence. 
And this they were the better enabled to do, because Crom- 
well was suffering from a severe attack of ague, which com- 
menced early in February, and lasted, with slight intermis- 
sions, till the end of May. The King and his suite began 
with their inspection of Stirling Castle ; from which place 
they set out on the 1 2th of February. They first examined 
the fords and passes higher up the Forth. From thence 
they came down the north bank of the river to Inch Garvie 
and Burntisland. They were one night at Wemyss Castle, 
where the King knighted two gentlemen of the neighbour- 
hood. On the 14th he rode along the coast through Leven, 
Largo (where, says Balfour, he " ran at the glove"), and 
Elie, and was all that night at Anstruther House. On the 
15th, which was Saturday, he passed through Pittenweem, 
where he was feasted by the Magistrates (an account of the 



FEBRUARY 1651. 171 

feast I will give presently), and then he went to St Andrews 
to visit his chaplain, Mr Blair, who was lying there in bad 
health. Mr Blair, says his biographer, " did then take 
occasion, as a dying man, to speak to the King freely and 
fully, giving him his best advice ; and withal shewing him 
what he liked and what he disliked in his father, one of the 
best of our kings, whom Mr Blair always used to call, ' a 
good king evil used." " If Mr Blair really thought so, why 
did he assist in the judicial murder (four years before, in 
this very town of St Andrews), of Sir K. Spottswood and 
his colleagues, for no other reason than because they had 
taken up arms in defence of this " good king evil used f 
This deed of deliberate disloyalty and iniquity was enough 
to efface all the virtue of Blair s former and future life, un- 
less indeed he had repented of it, which, however, he never 
appears to have done.^ 

The King came to Struthers on the J 5th of the month, 
in the castle of which he was hospitably entertained by the 
Earl of Crawford till Monday ; the ministers of Culross and 
Ceres preaching before him on the Sunday, in the hall of 
the castle. They next proceeded to Perth, where he stayed 
till the 21st. On that day he rode to Dundee, where he 
knighted several gentlemen, and was entertained by Lord 
Balcarras. Next day, which was Saturday, he went on to 
Kinnaird House, and remained there till Monday, after 
which he proceeded to Dunottar Castle and Aberdeen. 

The following is an account of the King's reception at 
Pittenweem, as extracted from the council book of that 
burgh. — 

" Copy of the Act of the Town Council of Pittenweem 
anent King Charles the 2d, his reception in the said burgh. 

'• Pittenweem^ decimo quarto Fehruarij 1651 . — The baillies 
and council being conveened, and having received informa- 
tion that his Majesty is to be in progress with his court 
along the coast to-morrow, and to stay at Anstruther 
House that night, have thought it expedient, according to 
their bounden duty, with all reverence and due respect, and 
with all the solemnity they can, to await upon his Majesty 

^ See Lyon's History of St Andrews, ii. pp. 34-37. 



1 72 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

as he comes through this his Majestie's burgh, and invite 
his Majesty to eat and drink as he passes ; and, for that 
effect, hath ordained that the morn afternoon the town 
colours be put up on the bartisan of the town steple ; and 
that at 3 o'clock the bells begin to ring, untill his Majesty 
come hither and passes to Anstruther. And sicklike, that 
the minister be spoken to, to be with the Baillies and 
Council, who are to be in their best apparell, and with them 
a guard of twenty-four of the ablest men with partisans, 
and other twenty-four with muskets, all in their best ap- 
parell (William Sutherland commanding as captain of the 
guard), are to wait on his Majesty, and receive his Highness 
at the West Port, and bring his Majesty and his Court 
through the town, untill they come to Robert Smith's yate, 
where an table is to be covered with my Lord's best carpet ; 
and that George Hedderwick have in readiness, of fine 
flower, some great buns, and other wheat bread of the best 
order, baken with sugar, cannel,^ and spices fitting ; and 
that James Richardson and Walter Airth have care to 
have ready aught or ten gallons of good strong ale, with 
canary, sack, and Rennish tent, white wine, and claret, that 
his Majesty and his Court may eat and drink ; and that in 
the meantime, when his Majesty is present, the guard do 
diligently attend about the court ; and so soon as his 
Majesty is to go away, that a sign be made to Andrew Tod 
(who is appointed to attend the colours on the steple- head, 
to the effect that he may give sign to those who attend the 
cannons) of his Majesty's departure, and then the haill 
thirty -six cannons to be shot at once. It is also thought 
fitting that the minister, and James Richardson the oldest 
baillie, when his Majesty comes to the table, shew the great 
joy and sense this burgh has of his Majesty's condescen- 
dence to visit this same, with some other expressions of 
loyalty, — which was acted." All this was proof of the 
loyal feeling which existed among the middling and lower 
ranks of the Scots, where it was not checked by religious 
excitement or adventitious circumstances. 

It would appear, that during the King's visit to Fife, 
he reviewed those of his army that were quartered in that 

1 Cinnamon, 



FEBRUARY 1651. 173 

county. Balfour says, that twelve regiments of horse were 
stationed there ; and these were probably inspected and 
addressed by his Majesty in the course of his tour ; for the 
continuator of Bakers " Chronicle/'^ says, that " at a ge- 
neral rendezvous whicli was held in the west of Fife, the 
King came into the field to encourage the soldiers with his 
personal presence, and made a speech to them, wherein he 
exhorted them to be valiant and faithful to his cause ; tell- 
ing them, moreover, that he would rather choose to die in 
the field than be driven up into the mountains.^' 

I know^ not what description of soldiers these were, or 
what pai't of the country they came from, but it would ap- 
pear that their moral conduct, and their behaviour to the 
Presbyterian ministers in the parishes where they were 
quartered, was far from being of a decorous character. The 
Prebytery Records of this period contain numerous entries, 
complaining of " insolency" on the part of those men ; 
which is hardly w^hat we might have expected, considering 
the power of the Kirk, and the alleged piety of the people. 
The following may serve as a specimen : — " February 26, 
anent insolencies of souldiers — The Presbyterie being touched 
with a depe sense of the great dishonour done to God, and 
sore oppressions of dlir congregations, caused by the vn- 
godlie and insolent behaviour of diverse souldiers quartered 
within our bounds, have resolved to complaine to the King's 
Majestic and Comittee of Estates, and humblie to sup- 
plicate for redresse and remedy heirof : And therefore, doe 
desire heritours or others in our bounds, to come to their 
owne Session the nixt Lord's day in the afternoone, and 
give in the names of such as are guiltie of abhominable 
curseing and swearing, profaneing the Lord's day by absent- 
ing themselves from publicke worship, staying in their 
quarters, or otherw^ayes are intemperate persons, or have 
scandalouslie oppressed them by exacting, besyde quhat is 
due to commanders, moneys unjustlie for souldiers that are 
not in regiments ; or have beaten any for refuseing them 
what they did unjustlie desire ; that these may be repre- 

1 Sir R. Baker died in 1645, but his Chronicle was continued by Mr Ed- 
ward Philip. 



174 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

sented to us on Monday nixt. And appoints everie minis- 
ter to intimate the same the nixt Lord's day after fore- 
noones sermon." i 

It seems singular that the Presbyterian ministers who 
had the power, at this very time, of bringing the nobles of 
Scotland to their knees, for the supposed offence of having 
abetted " James Graham,"' and taken part in the " En- 
gagement," should yet hixve wanted the power of punishing 
private soldiers for real offences. 

The continuator of Baker tells us, farther, that the King, 
after leaving Fife, "wentto the Assembly of Aberdeen, to com- 
pose the differences among the ministers there." There was 
no Assembly, properly so called, at Aberdeen at this time ; 
but we learn from Blair's Life, that the Assembly's Com- 
mission appointed several of the more moderate of their 
number to accompany the King to that city, for the pur- 
pose of conferring with some of the opposite party there, 
who had been acting with extreme violence. They went 
and conferred with them accordingly ; but though at first 
the Aberdeen ministers made some concessions, and seemed 
inclined for peace, yet, in the end, they retracted all they 
had granted, and remained in no better a mind than be- 
fore. In short, the whole kirk, and "io a great extent the 
State too, was shaken to its centre by this unhappy con- 
troversy between Resolutioners and Protesters, at the very 
period when union was above all things necessary for re- 
pelling the common enemy. 

Nevertheless, the raising of the levies in the north ad- 
vanced more prosperously than could have been expected. 
Dr Bate says, — " At Aberdeen the royal standard was 
erected, to which, from all quarters, both regular troops 
and volunteers plentifully flowed." But we have no parti- 
culars of the King's stay in that city. In the Treasurer's 
accounts for 1650-51 (no more definite date is given than 
this), there is a list of disbursements by the town on the 
King's behalf, under the head of " his Majesty's charges at 
his last being in Aberdeen ;" which word " last" mostlike- 

^ Kecords of the Presbytery of St Andrews, p. 6L See also those of Cupar, 
under March 1651. 



MARCH 1651. 175 

ly alludes to his visit at the time we are now considering, 
in contradistinction to his earher one in June 1650. I 
have read over the articles of disbursement, but there is 
nothing in them remarkable. 

Immediately after the King returned to Perth, he re- 
ceived an envoy from the Dutch, who came to complain 
that some of their vessels had been captured by Sir John 
Greenville, the royal governor of the Scilly Islands, and 
others by the Earl of Derby, Governor of the Isle of Man. 
These vessels had been trading with the English, and taken 
on that account ; but as the King was on the best terms 
with Holland, and found it for his interest to remain so, he 
gave orders for the release of the vessels^ and thus afforded 
the envoy aU the satisfaction he demanded. 

Let us now trace the progress of events, after the return 
of Charles to Perth from Aberdeen, in the beginning of 
March. 

It so happened that Sir John Henderson left Perth 
just after the King arrived there, and went to the Hague, 
where (as already mentioned). Sir E. Nicholas was the 
royal representative. The latter thus writes to the Mar- 
quis of Ormond, on the 19th March : — " Sir John Hender- 
son, who came from Scotland on Wednesday, this day 
sevennight (the J 2th), saith the King was then at Perth, 
and had an army of 10,000 foot and 6000 horse ; that Crom- 
well was with a flux drawn so weak, both in his body and 
understanding, as he was not able to act, or direct any- 
thing, and was gone to Berwick with intention to go to 
Newcastle." In all the contemporaneous accounts, Crom- 
welFs complaint is called an ague, but none of them speak 
of any failure of " understanding." He was rendered unfit 
for active service for more than two months, and the Eng- 
lish Parliament sent two physicians (Dr Bate being one of 
them) to see him, and prescribe for him, but he never quit- 
ted Scotland, or his army, during the time of his indisposi- 
tion. Sir E. Nicholas adds, " Cromwell wrote, in his last 
letter from Scotland, that the young man (meaning his 
Majesty) was there very active and intelligent, which I am 
glad to hear from so rancorous a rebel." 



176 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

On the 20th March^ the Commission of the Assembly 
issued " A short exhortation and warning," in which they 
say, that " the imminent danger of religion, king, and king- 
dom, by the unjust invasion of the blasphemous sectarian 
army ; the sad condition of our brethren in the south parts 
of the kingdom, groaning under the grievous oppression of 
strangers devouring their substance, and enslaving their 
persons ; the sad silence in many congregations, whose 
teachers are driven into corners by the violence of the ene- 
mies, contemners of God's ordinances, and mockers of his 
messengers ; the adversaries roaring and making a strange 
noise in the midst of some congregations ; the inevitable hazard 
of our dear brethren to be seduced into pernicious heresies 
and errors, by the deceitful practices and speeches of sec- 
taries, that are coming [cunning ?] to deceive and speak 
lies in hypocrisy ; the innocent blood of our brethren mur- 
dered by the sword of a merciless enemy ; the sighing of 
the prisoners, inhumanly and cruelly used by those who 
keep them prisoners ; the care of preserving our posterity 
from being sunk under the dark dungeon of error, and fast 
bound with the heavy chains of basest slavery — do cry so 
loud in the ears of all who have ears to hear and a heart to 
understand, to be awake and quickened unto the necessary 
duty of the time ; that it is a wonder that any Jonah should 
be found fast asleep in so great a storm, wherein this kirk 
and kingdom are like to be overwhelmed."' " If you tender 
true religion, you see how the sectaries shew themselves 
plain enemies thereto, and maintain that impious monster of 
toleration^ though religion were not the question. Let 
loyalty to your king, the only king in the world who is in a 
religious covenant with God and his people^ animate you against 
those who are his enemies, because he is a king, and be- 
cause covenanted," &;c. And with a view to put down the 
opposition of the %?2fra-covenanting party, they add, " We 
do, in the name of God, inhibit and discharge all ministers 
to preach, and all ministers and professors to detract, 
speak, or write, against the late public resolutions and 
papers of the Commission of the General Assembly, in order 
to the calling forth of the people for the necessary defence 



MARCH 1651. 177 

of the cause and the kingdom against the unjust invasion 
of those enemies to the kingdom of God, and to the go- 
vernment of this kirk and kingdom." ^ This last prohibi- 
tion meant something more than " an exhortation and 
warning ;' ' for the Commission (mindful that toleration was 
an " impious monster,'') enacted that no one who opposed 
the public resolutions for the admission of malignants, 
should be chosen a member of Assembly ; and not a few, 
who had offended in this respect, were imprisoned, and 
not liberated till they expiated their offence by a public re- 
pentance.2 No man was, in those times, at liberty to judge 
for himself in matters of religion or politics, but was obliged 
to succumb to the " tyrant majority,'' on whichever side it 
might chance to be, or whatever were its sentiments. These 
sentiments changed at different times ; so that the unhappy 
minority had no alternative but either to change with the 
rest, or to undergo persecution on account of their prin- 
ciples.^ And, what is remarkable, it was the moderate 
party which had now the ascendancy, and issued this very 
stringent " warning." What then would the opposite party 
have done had they predominated I These . last, as may 
easily be supposed, excited a very bitter outcry against such 
excessive rigour, and even some of the moderates thought 
their brethren had gone too far; among whom was Mr 
Blair, whose biographer says, " He thought the ' warning ' 
was too fiery and hot, being himself a man of a most mode- 
rate and calm temper." ^^ Some of the contending parties 
again met at St Andrews in the course of this month, chiefly 
that they might get the benefit of Blair's mediation, who 
was still too unwell to leave his room ; " but," adds his 
biographer, " they sundered even as they met." But I must 
now return to other matters. 

While the Scots were thus, both statemen and ministers, 
quarreling among themselves, and persecuting one another, 
Cromwell had by this time taken every town and fortress 
in the lowlands, except Blackness, Dunbarton, Perth, and 
Stirling, the two first of which very soon after fell into his 

I Balfour, iv. pp. 318-328. ^ Nicoll, pp. 52, 53. 

BBalfour, iv. pp. 309, 310. < Blair's Life, p. 265. • 

12 



1/8 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II, 

hands. " So that," says Nicoll, " partly by intestine divi- 
sions among our Scots, and by the force, policy, and strength 
of our enemies, the English, this poor land was brought to 
open confusion and shame ; the English army romping 
through the kingdom without opposition, destroying our 
corns, and raising cess-money wherever they went, for 
maintenance of their army and garrisons." 

As every thing which throws light on the obscure period 
we are now investigating is valuable, I may be permitted to 
quote here a document which I find in the acts of the 
Scottish Parliament for this year. It is a supplication, 
dated 25tli March, from the officers of the garrison of Stir- 
ling, addressed to the Parliament, and gives some notion 
of the painful and neglected state which that part of the 
army must have then been in. It runs thus : — " Sheweth, 
that we have been in garrison these seven months past, and 
have received only four month's pay, at 20 shillings Scots 
per diem [Is. 8d. sterling] to a captain,^ &c., which, although 
it had been duly paid, could hardly afford necessary enter- 
tainment for the discharge of our diet ; whereas the rest of 
the officers have had their constant pay out of their quar- 
ters. Likewise, the hard entertainment of the soldiers is 
not to be forgotten ; to say nothing of their scarcity of food, 
sometimes lacking three days of their week's allowance, and 
being almost destitute of clothing. And although some of 
them have been formerly hardly bred, and could endure 
hardships as well as others, yet [they are] dying upon duty, 
not having so much as to defend them from the extremity 
of the cold, yea, hardly to c6ver their nakedness. We are 
not insensible of the great strait the kingdom is in, and the 
inability thereof to bear the great burthenings upon it; 
neither are we desiring great things nor superfluities, but 
necessary entertainment, such as we maybe enabled to dis- 
charge our duties. Wherefore, we humbly present the pre- 

^ This may give us some idea of the value of money at this period. A few 
months before, the Committee of Estates had issued an order that in the 
burghs of Scotland, no landlord should charge a gentleman more than 4d. 
sterling for one night's lodgings, and 2d. for a servant, exclusive of fire and 
liglit, which were to be paid for separately, Balfour's Annals, iv. p. 166. 



MARCH 1651. 179 

mises to your serious consideration, and desire that some 
effectual course may be found for payment of the three 
months pay due for discharging our quarters ; and Hkewise 
some settled way of entertainment for the present and 
future." How such disorders could have arisen at the head- 
quarters of an army that pretended to any degree of regu- 
larity and discipline, it is very difficult to conceive ; but the 
Supplication was referred to " the Committee of the Army," 
who, finding that the evil complained of was but too well 
founded, gave directions that it should be remedied. 

In the beginning of the year 1649, a very tyrannical 
and iniquitous act of Parliament had been passed, through 
the influence of the Marquis of Argyll, Johnston of War- 
riston, and their ultra-Presbyterian coadjutors, called the 
'* Act of Classes ;" so named, from the persons whom it 
affected being divided into four classes, according to their 
different degrees of supposed delinquency. The first, and 
most culpable, were those who had been concerned directly 
in the Duke of Hamilton''s " unlawful engagement,'' and 
" the horrid rebellion of James Graham f (rebellion, that 
is, against the Covenanters, and in favour of the King !) ; 
and for this offence the punishment was exclusion from 
Parliament and offices of trust during life. The second 
class comprehended those who were indirectly concerned in 
the same measures; and their punishment was exclusion 
from the same privileges for ten years. The tliird class were 
those who had failed to protest against the measures in 
question ; and their punishment was to last j^«^ years. The 
fourth class consisted of those who had been guilty of public 
scandal, profane swearing, drunkenness, adultery, &c., and 
the punishment of such was to last one year ; in which clas- 
sification one cannot help being struck with the singular 
anomaly of fidelity to a lawful King being not only reckoned 
a crime, and ranked with the worst offences against God, 
but held to be deserving of a far severer punishment 
than the most flagrant violations of the decalogue ! If the 
framers of this act had ever any pretensions to " pure and 
undefiled religion," surely there was nothing more wanting 
to overthrow such pretensions, in the eyes of all good Chris- 



180 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

tians, than the authorship of so detestable and impious an 
act. And yet a modern Scots minister says concerning it, 
that " by it the liberties of the Church and nation were 
protected from those who were manifestly disposed to 
trample them under foot !'" Some persons forget that no 
ends can justify means which are essentially wrong ; and 
that those ends can never be good which need bad means 
to accomplish them. Another living Scots minister says, 
" Men will term this act one of bigotry and intolerance. 
It evidently aimed at the construction of what the world 
has never yet seen — a Christian government, composed of 
men whose ruling principle should be to fear Grod and honour 
the King.^' So then, to " fear Grod" is to regard vice as less 
atrocious, and less deserving of punishment, than loyalty ! and 
to " honour the King," is to reward his enemies, and heap 
indignity on his most devoted adherents ! It were difficult 
to find a name for the framers and defenders of such con- 
duct. " Bigotted'' and '^ intolerant" express only a small 
part of the obloquy they deserve. Their behaviour amounts, 
at the very least, to " calling evil good, and good evil," 
against which a woe is denounced. Or we might even de- 
scribe it as that " deceivableness of umnghteousness," and 
the being " given over to a strong delusion to believe a 
lie," which are represented in the New Testament as the 
works of Antichrist. The religionists in question did not 
scruple to call Cromwell and the Pope by this offensive 
name ; but they little thought of its applicability to them- 
selves. Be this, however, as it may, it was now happily 
thought expedient to endeavour to repeal the " Act of 
Classes." This, we shall see, was effected, but not without 
great hesitation on the part of the Besolutioners, and the 
most violent opposition on the part of the Protesters. 

The seventh session of the Parliament opened in presence 
of the King, on the ] 3th of March. A Mr Robert Young 
preached the sermon, but who he was I am uncertain. It 
was carried by a majority of votes, that Lord Burleigh 
should be president of the new Parliament, in the room of 
Lord Chancellor Loudon, for no other reason, it would 
jseem, than because the former was the more disposed, or 



MARCH 1651. 181 

r.ither the less indisposed of the two, to favour Hamilton 
and the royalist party. Burleigh had no great reason 
to boast of his loyalty, but Loudon had less still ; and hence 
this step was so far in a favoiTrable direction. Both these 
noblemen had taken an active part against the late King, 
as well as against Montrose, and his followers ; and Loudon 
especially had rendered himself very obnoxious by his low 
cunning, duplicity, and tergiversation ; but now that there 
was a reaction gradually going on, Loudon was more dila- 
tory in retracing his steps than Burleigh. Even after the 
passing of the act for the admission of Malignants into the 
army, the former had grumbled at the great number of 
that class who came forward to serve the King. And in 
the course of this very month (in a debate, in which the 
royalist party outvoted their opponents), he and Lothian 
exhibited so much of their old disloj^al humour, that, in 
open Parliament, and in the royal presence, " they did 
check the King much for his inconstancy (as they called it), 
in deserting his best friends, that brought him to this 
country, put the crown on his head ; and now, as it 
seemed, adhered to those who had done his father the 
worst offices that subjects could do to a prince ; contrary 
to his own words, promises, writings, oaths, and declara- 
tions, both private and public.''^ This reproachful lan- 
guage was not very reconcileable with the oath of allegiance 
which these two noblemen had taken to the King, not three 
months before (p. 155), and the latter must have possessed 
uncommon forbearance, to listen patiently to such effi-ontery 
and insult. These peers should have been the last persons 
to accuse any one of breaking promises, seeing this was the 
very thing they themselves had repeatedly done.^ And 
Charles was the last person who should have been re- 
proached for what he was now doing, inasmuch as he was 
bound, by the treaty of Breda, to agree to all matters civil 
that should be determined by the Parliament, and to all 

1 Balfour's Annals, iv. pp. 212-275. 

2 Loudon was a man of dissolute morals, sins which, however, his zeal for 
the Covenant in in a great measure covered. — C. K. Sharpe's edition of Kirk- 
ton, p. 33. 



182 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H* 

matters ecclesiastical that should be determined by the 
General Assembly. 

On the 19th of this month came on the motion for the 
repeal of the Act of Olassei^ The King and Parlianient 
proposed, " whether or not it be sinful and unlawful, for 
the more effectual prosecution of the public resolutions for 
the defence of the cause of the King, and kingdom, to admit 
such persons to be members of the Committee of Estates, 
who are now debarred from the public trust ; they being 
such as have satisfied the Kirk for the offence for which they 
were excluded, and are since admitted to enter in covenant 
with us?" This query was ordered to be sent to the Com- 
mission of the General Assembly, which accordingly was 
done by the Earl of Eglinton. 

To this question (which a modern Scots writer says 
" evinces a most reckless audacity"), the Commission, on the 
22d, gave in this brief and somewhat evasive answer (which 
the same modern writer thinks " is characterised with an 
indecision and acquiescence utterly unworthy of watchmen 
on Zion's wall !"), that they would need a larger attend- 
ance of ministers to settle the point ; but meantime, they 
desire the King and Parliament to admit into their coun- 
cils " all but some few as have been prime actors against 
the state ;" meaning by this, those who had been most zeal- 
ous and active in support of the late King and Montrose, 
and most opposed, consequently, to the Covenant, the West- 
minster Standards, and Presbyterianism, This answer not 
being thought sufficiently definite, the Parliament again 
wrote on the 29th, requesting a more distinct reply. 

Some delay, however, occurred, and meanwhile the Par- 
liament adjourned till the 17th April, and again till the 
21st May. In this interval, the Commission was anxiously 
deliberating what answer they should give to the question 
which had been submitted to them ; unwilling, on the one 
hand, to eat up the declarations, and protestations, and 
remonstrances, which they had repeatedly uttered and acted 
on during the previous ten years, and thereby to stultify 
themselves, and offend numbers of their brethren ; and still 
more unwilling, on the other hand, to lose the services of 



APRIL 1651. 183 

the royalists at a time when there was so much need for 
the co-operation of all parties. 

While this dehberation is pending, we will turn our at- 
tention to other contemporaneous matters. About this 
time, Dunbarton Castle was taken by Cromwell ; and in it, 
or near it, the Earl of Eglinton, and one of his younger 
sons, were found, and made prisoners. They were first 
sent to Edinburgh Castle for greater security, and subse- 
quently to Hull and then to Berwick, where they were detain- 
ed till the Restoration. Baillie, in a letter to the Earl of 
Lauderdale, of the 4th April says, " My Lord Eglinton's 
lamentable surprise confirms us all in our long suspicions, 
that the King, army, and State, if not Church, is in greater 
hazard to be quickly destroyed by villainous traitors among 
you, beyond Forth, than either by the English or Scots be- 
south Forth. God help us. All of you are suspected by 
divers. Treachery and division, it is feared, will destroy 
all." This is strong language, and not easily accounted 
for, unless it be from the desponding turn of Baillie's mind. 
We are not informed of the particulars of the fall of Dun- 
barton Castle ; but at this time the dissensions ran high 
between Hamilton's and Argyll's parties. Cromwell was 
vigilant and enterprising, while Lesley seems to have been 
the reverse. We may thus account for the capture of 
Dunbarton, without having recourse to the supposition of 
treachery.^ 

There was, however, a man of the name of Archibald 
Hamilton, who seems to have had some hand in the delivery 
of this Castle to the English, and had very nearly succeeded 
in betraying Sir Philip Musgrave also, one of the King's 
personal suite. A letter from Perth at this time thus 
speaks of the said traitor : " We have lately hanged a spy 
at Stirling, one Hamilton by name, who, for five pounds a 
week, has done us no little mischief. This man betrayed 
Sir Phihp Musgrave, wdio narrowly escaped from them by 
running up to the middle in the sea to a boat, in which he 
was transported to the Isle of Man," — where he would be 
safe, for a time at least, under the protection of the Earl 

^ Balfour's Annals, iv.. p. 296. 



184 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

of Derby, one of the King's most devoted adherents, and 
with whom, accordingly, he remained till the August fol- 
lowing, when they both came together to join the King, 
after he had marched into England. 

Not long after this, we find another letter from Baillie 
to Lauderdale, of a different character from the one last 
quoted, in which the Presbyterian minister takes upon him- 
self to give military, as well as religious, advice to his noble 
correspondent : — " Why,"" he asks, " has not every regi- 
ment a minister ? Why is there no Presbytery in your army 1 
Had you ever so many ministers out of charge ? I like well 
your delay of fighting, if you could keep up your army ; but 
beware it melt not, and the country faint not under its 
oppression. Why train you not your soldiers, and daily 
exercise them ? Upon the huge large quarters of the enemy, 
will you make no infall !" As to the military part of this 
letter, it seems incredible that in the presence of so many 
experienced officers, the army should not be daily exercised ; 
and yet, perhaps, it may be viewed as confirmatory of that 
neglect of discipline which we have already seen indicated 
by the complaint of the garrison of Stirling Castle in the 
preceding month. But as to the religious part of the letter, 
considering the materials of which the army was now com- 
posed, it is not very surprising that Scottish ministers and 
presbyteries should not have been much in request. If 
there were no governing authority absolutely to impose 
them, it could hardly be expected that the King and his 
Cavalier officers would go out of their way in search of 
them. It is certain, at any rate, that if they had not Pres- 
byterian ministers to officiate to them, they had no other, 
because no other would at that time have been permitted. 
Meanwhile, Lord Montgomery, the eldest son of the Earl 
of Eglinton, in revenge for the capture of his father and his 
brother, together with Lord Cranston and 500 horse, march- 
ed from Stirling ; and suddenly entering Linlithgow, which 
was garrisoned by the English, they took and carried off* a 
number of prisoners. They were soon, however, pursued 
by Major Sydenham, the commandant of the place ; but 
the Scots faced about and attacked their pursuers, mortally 



APRIL 1651. 185 

wounded the commandant, killed 60 of the enemy, and car- 
ried off their prisoners in triumph.^ 

After the fall of Dunbarton, Cromwell paid a visit to 
Glasgow, of which the ministers of the city gave the fol- 
lowing account in a letter to Mr Robert Douglas : — ^" Crom- 
well having come to Hamilton on Friday late, and to Glas- 
gow on the Saturday, with a body of his army, sooner than 
with safety we could have retired ourselves, on Sunday, be- 
fore noon, he came unexpectedly to the High Inner Church, 
where quietly he heard Mr Robert Ramsay preach a very 
good honest sermon, i:>ertinent for Ms case. In the after- 
noon he came, as unexpectedly, to the High Outer Kirk, 
where he heard Mr John Carstairs lecture, and Mr James 
Durham preach graciously, and well to the t'lmes^ as could 
have been desired. Generally, all who preached that day 
in the town, gave a fair enough testimony against the sec- 
taries. That night, some of the army was trying if the 
ministers would he pleased., of their own accord^ to confer with 
their General. All of us did meet to advise ; and after 
some debate, we were content to go and hear what would 
be said. When we came, he spoke long and smoothly, 
showing the scandal himself and others had taken at the 
doctrine they heard preached ; especially that they were 
condemned,/rs^, as unjust invaders ; secondly., as contemners 
and tramplers under foot of the ordinances ; thirdly^ as per- 
secutors of the ministers in Ireland ; but as they were un- 
willing to offend us, by a public contradicting of us in the 
church, so they expected we would be willing to give them 
a reason, either for those three, or what else was excepted 
against, in any of our sermons. The time appointed for 
this, was this day at 2 o'clock at CromwelFs lodgings. But 
this morning he sent us word, it would be to-morrow ; and 
that, at the same time and place, he would attend us. We 
trust, by the grace of God, to speak nothing for the disad- 
vantage of the truth, and cause in hand. Let the Lord 
make of this what he will. We had no mind to begin, and 
have no pleasure to continue, any conference with any of 
these men ; but all of us conceive it was unavoidable, with- 

1 Heath's Chronicle, p. 288. 



186 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

out a greater scandal, to do what we have done. The Lord 
be with you. 

" Your brethren, the ministers in the place." 
Here this matter ended; for, according to Balfour, Cromwell 
could not, or would not, keep his appointment with the 
Glasgow ministers, but hastily marched the same night back 
to Edinburgh. It is, however, observable, that the minis- 
ters say that they had no desire to begin or continue the 
conference ; but it seems, from their own shewing, that this 
conference was as much their seeking as Cromweirs. He 
does not appear to have volunteered any wish on the sub - 
ject. It was some of his men who were " trying if the 
ministers would be pleaded to go to him of their own accord!^'' 
— a somewhat contradictory statement. No sooner did 
they learn this, than they met and talked over the matter, 
and came to the resolution of going immediately, thinking, 
no doubt, that they w^ould have greatly the better of the 
argument. But it is evident that Cromwell justly accused 
them of making their pulpits channels of personal abuse of 
himself and his army, instead of confining themselves to the 
proper business of their calling. Although he had the 
power in his hands to revenge himself upon them, to any ex- 
tent he pleased, yet he forebore, and simply reasoned the 
matter with them, thus returning good for evil. According 
to the account in the " Cromwelliana,"* this conference took 
place on the 19th of April; Generals Cromwell and Lam- 
bert being the chief speakers on the one side, and Messrs 
Guthrie and Gillespie on the other. Faulty as we must 
deem the position of both parties, it must be confessed that 
the Puritans shewed themselves superior to the Presbyte- 
rians in fairness and forbearance. 

The gossiping Wodrow, in his Analecta, iii. p. 292, tells 
the following anecdote, connected with the foregoing nar- 
rative, though it is sufficiently childish, and probably not 
true : — " William Wood telh me, he Iiad this account from 
old Mr Aikenhead, who heard it from the gentlewoman, that 
Cromv\^ell came into Glasgow with some of his officers, on 
a Sabbath Day, and came straight to the High Church, 
where Mr Durham was preaching. The first seat that 



MAY 1661. 187 

offered was Professor Porterfield's, where Mrs Porterfield 
sat ; and she, seeing he was an EngHsh officer, was almost 
not civil. However, he got in, and sat next Mrs P. After 
sermon was over, he asked the minister"'s name. She sul- 
lenly enough told him, and desired to know wherefor he 
asked ? He said, because he perceived him to be a very great 
man, and, in his opinion, might be chaplain to any prince in 
Europe, though he had never seen nor heard of him be- 
fore. She enquired about him, and found it was General 
Cromwell." 

It appears that, at this time. Sir William Throgmorton, 
and forty or fifty English officers, together with some horses, 
and a coacli for the King, arrived in Scotland, where they 
landed safe (though we are not told in what part), and 
proceeded immediately to join the royal army.^ This sup- 
ply was probably sent from the Hague, and may have ar- 
rived at Dundee or Aberdeen ; as we learn (from a letter 
written by Sir Walter Strickland, dated the Hague, 9th 
April), that an armament was then being prepared at that 
place for the service of the King, and which armament was 
to be dispatched to one or other of the above towns.^ 

The royal army, now consisting of both Cavaliers and 
Presbyterians, and united, in profession at least, was con- 
stituted at Stirling early in May. The Scottish nobles, 
Hamilton, Rothes, Linlithgow, Dunfermline, Home, Errol, 
Balcarras, Marischall, Ogilvy, Cranston, Drummond, Forbes, 
Erskine, &c., besides several private gentlemen of wealth 
and influence, had each raised a regiment for the King's 
service, which was called after the name of him who had 
sent or brought it into the field, and in some instances 
commanded by himself in person. In addition to these, 
but which had not yet gone to Stirling, there were the Athol, 
Kelly, Crawford, and Huntly contingents already men- 
tioned. The Commander-in-chief was the King himself 
which office he had consented to assume at the urgent re- 
quest of the Parliament ; and which he was the more dis- 
posed to accept, because his possession of it tended to lessen 
the jealousy which the Highland chieftains felt towards 

1 Carte, i. p. 463. * Carey's Memorials, ii. p. 262. 



] 88 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

Lesley. The old Earl of Leven had, at the same time, 
offered to resign his nominal command, on account of his 
increasing infirmities ; but he was requested to continue it, 
as his advice might be useful, though he could no longer 
serve in the field. The general officers under the King, 
v^^ere Lesley, Montgomery, Brown, Middleton, Massey,i and 
Wandross. The men were about 20,000 in number ; but 
though there was an appearance of union and strength, 
there was much dissension among the commanders at this 
time, arising probably from the old subjects of dispute be- 
tween Cavaliers and Covenanters ; so that the King had a 
very difficult part to act, to keep peace among them, by 
assuming a neutrality which he could not be supposed to 
feel, but which he had the prudence to see, w^as the only 
way to bring about a good understanding among men of 
such opposite principles. A Mr Feversham, who was at- 
tached to his suite, thus writes concerning him from Perth, 
5th May : — " His Majesty's judgment and activity, both in 
civil and martial affairs, are to a degree you would not ima- 
gine, in so few months' growth as he hath trode this stage ; 
being the first and forwardest upon every occasion in either 
kind ; and adventuring his person (I pray God not too 
much) upon ever}^ show of danger, riding continually, and 
being up early and late ; with which, nevertheless, his health 
is not abated, but the contrary." Another of the royal 
followers, writing from the same place, on the following day, 
discloses some curious particulars, which I believe will be 
new to most readers :■ — " Our business here goes on pretty 
well, but slower than T expected. We shall not be able to 
draw absolutely into the field this month for want of provi- 
sions for our horse. Our foot are all marched up, and are 
to be divided into three camps to secure the river ; one at 
Burnt Island, the other near Stirling, and the third at the 
fords which are above Stirhng. Our army will be in all 
15,000 foot, as good men to look on as any in the world; 

1 Massey, before the murder of Charles I., had been Governor of the city 
of Gloucester under the Parliament ; and was then so zealous a presbyterian, 
tluit he distinguished himself by stripping tlie churches, tearing to pieces the 
prayer-books, and selling the communion plate 1 



MAY 1651. 189 

and 5000 horse, which will be our blind side, for they are 
most of them poor and weak ; yet, I believe, we can make 
2000 as good any the enemy hath. This, I beheve, is a 
just account of our strength ; and it is enough, if we manage 
it like good soldiers, and good subjects. The enemy lies close 
to Glasgo ; his design is to cut up all provision in the west, 
for fear we should have the advantage of it. His men come 
daily unto us, and tell us of strange numbers that will come 
to us as soon as we march on the other side of the river. 
They are so far from being obedient to their officers, that 
they will do but what they list,"*' — " One morning early they 
came with 80 sail of little and great vessels, and bore up 
directly to a little town in Fife called Kercaudy^ where they 
discharged many of their cannon, which did no greater harm 
than striking a poor woman's buttock off. The King was 
upon the place himself with force enough (with God's assist- 
ance) to have repulsed them if they had offered to land, 
which, when we expected, they fairly retreated to the place 
from whence they came, having nothing in their boats but 
seamen." He then goes on to speak of the mischievous 
feud between Hamilton and Argyll, — the friendship be- 
tween the latter and Buckingham — the new zeal of the kirk 
for the King — and matters which w^e have already had from 
other sources. But this is the only record we possess of 
the affair at Kircaldy, and of the King''s being in that part 
of Fife so late as the month of May or April.^ 

We must now return to the Commission of the General 
Assembly, whom we left deliberating on the repeal of the 
Act of Classes. They addressed a letter from Perth on the 
1 3th May, to " the Committee of Estates and Army,'" in 
which they in substance said, that providing judicatories 
and places of power and trust be filled with such men 
as are of known and good affection to the cause of God, 
and of a blameless Christian conversation, &;c., nothing 
doth hinder, but that persons formerly debarred from places 
of power and trust may be admitted to the same, and the 
censures inflicted upon them by the Act of Classes may be 
rescinded without sin by the Parliament, in whose power it 

1 Carte, ii. p. 25. 



190 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES D, 

is to lengthen or shorten the time of their censures, as they 
shall think just and necessary ; provided that they be men 
that have satisfied the kirk for their offences, and have re- 
newed or taken the Covenant, and be of known and good 
affection to the cause of God, &c. 

The 8th session of the Parliament met at Stirling on the 
23d, under the presidency of Lord Burleigh, on which oc- 
casion Mr James Durham preached the opening sermon;^ 
and the first thing they did was to repeal the obnoxious 
Act, whereby all who had been excluded from their seats in 
Parliament, and made incapable of holding public offices, 
were declared fit to serve the King, in any civil as well as 
military capacity, on the condition of satisfying the Kirk, 
and subscribing a bond that they would not seek the alter- 
ation of any of the existing laws in favour of the religion 
then established, nor revenge themselves on any who had 
formerly opposed them. This measure, however wise and 
necessary in itself, served, as might have been foreseen, to 
widen the breach between the moderate and the ultra- 
Covenanting parties. The clerical adherents of the latter 
preached more loudly than ever against their rulers, and 
especially against the framers of this repeal, notwithstand- 
ing it had become law ; maintaining, that " to take in men 
of known enmity to the cause, was in some sort to betray 
it, because it was giving them the power to deal treacher- 
ously ; and that to admit them to a profession of repent- 
ance was a profane mockery, so long as their sole object 
was to get into power." The obvious answer to this was, 
that the country ought not to lose the services of any of 
its subjects ; that if they had before made a false step, the 
sooner they retraced it the better ; that the Act of Classes 
was in itself of a very iniquitous nature ; and that the 
royalists, by subscribing the Covenant and the bond, had 
given all the evidence that could be asked of their sincerity. 
At the same time, it must be allowed, that the adherence 
of the royalist nobility and gentry to the cause of the Kirk 
Covenant, was just as much a pretence as it had been in 
the December preceding, when they were admitted into the 

1 Act Parliam. Car. II. 



JUNE 1651. 191 

army; inasmuch as they were fully prepared to renounce 
this cause, whenever they should have an opportunity. And 
what made the matter worse was, that the penance inflicted 
on the new converts was little better than an idle mockery. 
Thus, the Duke of Hamilton's stool of repentance is said 
to have been a comfortably stuffed cushion, on which he re- 
posed himself in the pew of his church, during the sermon 
which called on him to repent of his malignancy ; after 
which he gave a grand banquet to a numerous party of his 
friends, in honour of his being restored to his seat in Par- 
ment !^ The evil of all this lay partly in the fanaticism of 
the age, partly in the absurd decree of the Kirk against 
malignancy, and partly, no doubt, in the hypocrisy of those 
who submitted to those decrees in order to serve their own 
purposes. 

The 29th of May was celebrated by the Scots with 
much festivity and rejoicing, as being the King's birth-day, 
on which he completed his twenty-first year ; in order to 
the observance whereof, the Parliament adjourned that day, 
and his Majesty and most of the nobihty dined together at 
a great feast.^ There was also a solemn appearance and 
training of the soldiery ; and at night, all the streets blazed 
with bonefires, and the cannons played from Stirling, Burnt- 
island, and the rest of the Scottish garrisons. But not any 
one town shewed their affection in so particular a manner 
as the town of Dundee, from which a very large contribu- 
tion was gathered towards his assistance. The citizens 
also presented him with a stately tent, together with six 
pieces of ordnance, and set out a regiment of horse at their 
ovm expense.^ Dundee was distinguished for its loyalty 
during this war, which was, unhappily, the cause of its 
being besieged and stormed by Monk, after the King had 
quitted Scotland. 

During the month of June, very little seems to have been 
done by either the Scots or English army. The former 

1 Sir R. Baker's Chronicle, in loco. Carte Collection, i. p. 445. 

2 It does not clearly appear what town is here referred to, but it must 
have been either Perth or Stirling. 

3 Sir R. Baker's Chronicle, iyi loco. 



192 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IT. 

appointed d^fast to be kept on the 19th, to implore a bless- 
ing on the King, and that he might be directed rightly to 
command the army, now ready to meet the enemy. From 
the favourable change which had taken place in their 
counsels, no allusion was any more made to the sins of his 
family and forefathers. A voluntary contribution was, 
about the same time, raised throughout Scotland, " for ex- 
peding the army to the field against the common enemy, 
and for defence of the land against their unjust invasion." 

Cromwell had suffered severely from ague since the 
month of February ; but though he had been better and 
worse during several months, he did not finally recover till 
the month of June. One of his followers, writing on this 
subject to a friend in England, thus expresses himself: 
*' Truly sir, his life and health are exceedingly precious, 
and I account it every day a greater mercy than any other 
that we have his life ; observing that every dispensation of 
God draws him nearer to himself, and makes him more 
heavenly and holy, and, by consequence, more useful for 
his generation in the management of that power God hath 
committed to him,"' &c. Great men never want flatterers. 
His friend General Fairfax sent down in his own coach 
two English physicians, Drs Wright and Bate, to see him. 
" They are expected here to-morrow," says his attendant, 
writing on the 5th June, " but the Lord himself hath (be- 
fore their coming, blessed be his name), been his physician, 
and said unto him, Lim /" 

But, notwithstanding his illness, Cromwell had kept his 
men marching between Edinburgh and Falkirk, Linlithgow 
and Glasgow ; and had now concentrated a great part of 
them towards the south of Stirling, while the rest were 
encamped in the Pentland Hills. The King, during the 
same period, now that he had got more power into his 
hands, was very active, as we have seen, in bringing up the 
northern and eastern contingents to Stirling ; which town 
and its Castle, as well as the outworks in the neighbour- 
hood, had been rendered all but impregnable. A great 
part of the cavalry was at this time encamped in the Tor- 
wood, six miles south from the town, having the river 



JULY 1651. 193 

Carron and strong entrenchments in front, while the north- 
eastern counties lay open to the Scots for a continual sup- 
ply of provisions and recruits. 

A few desultory facts may be gathered from Whitelock's 
" Memorials," as to the military operations of the two 
armies at this time. Under date of 18th June, he says, 
that letters had been received from the English army, to 
the effect that " the Scots army was enclosed in Stirling 
Park, which are their own works, and not to be attempted 
but upon great disadvantage ; that old Leven continues 
general under the King, and that they have several major- 
generals ; that their forces are about 28,000, and that 
they have hanged three or four for refusing to bear arms, 
and that they expect many in England to join them ; that 
their soldiers have no pay, but 2 lbs of meal a-day ; that 
there was a proclamation at Perth that the word ' Malig- 
nants" should be forborne, for that all interests were now 
agreed." Under date 5th July, the same memorialist 
says, " Letters that the Scots army were drawn out on 
this side Stirling, and thereupon the general (Cromwell) 
drew out his army from Edinburgh, and they lay in the 
field to be in a fit place to receive the enemy ; but the 
Scots went back, and the English encamped upon the 
Pentland Hills." Two days after, he says, " Letters that 
both armies in Scotland are drawing nearer to one another ; 
that the general had in his army 14 regiments of horse, 22 
regiments of foot, and 16 pieces of ordnance, and that both 
armies are within 8 or 9 miles of one another, and that 
some of the scouts have met ; that the English army saw 
the Scots Leaguer ; that they are 15,000 foot, and 6000 
horse ; that the Scots have great differences among them- 
selves ; that Hamilton carries all, and Argyll and his 
party are down ; that some ministers have put out a new 
remonstrance against the taking in of some notorious ma- 
lignants." Again, " That the general marched towards 
the Scots army lying at Torwood, and there was pickering 
between the parties, &c. ; that the King was in the field, 
encouraging his troops ; that the first rank of their troops 
was armed complete. Thev gave out their army to be 

13 



194 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

29,000, but 'tis supposed they are 20,000 ; that they had 
entrenched themselves, and planted great guns, so that they 
could not be attempted with less danger than storming a 
garrison ; that the general called a council of war on the 
field, and by their advice drew off to the vale, to see if the 
Scots would follow them and forsake their hills, which they 
did not ; and so ^he English army returned back to their 
former quarters at Linlithgow." Again, *' That Cromwell 
marched up again to the Scots, but their foot were en- 
trenched, and their horse lay so that the English could not 
engage them, there being a river and bogs between them ; 
though Cromwell came up to the teeth of them, and viewed 
all their bodies, yet they would not come forth." In the 
course of these manoeuverings, the English took Callender 
House, and put its Scots garrison to the sword. This was 
in the middle of July. 

Nothing, to all appearance, would have been easier than 
for Cromwell to interpose his army between Stirling and 
Torwood, and thus not only cut off the communication be- 
tween the two main bodies of his enemy, but bring one or 
both of them into action, which was what he professed to 
be above all things anxious for. So likely was it that 
he would pursue this plan, that the wonder is why the 
royalists, instead of keeping possession of Torwood, which 
had no natural defences, did not rather abandon that 
position, and occupy the heights of Airthrey, three miles 
to the north of Stirling. But whatever might be their 
reasons for preferring Torwood, the field of Bannockburn 
lies between the former place and Stirling ; and it has been 
said, that Cromwell was averse to fight the Scots on that 
ground, lest the memory of the splendid victory which their 
forefathers gained over his countrymen in the 14th century, 
might operate to his disadvantage. 

Under these circumstances, the English general deter- 
mined to divide his army ; to retain part with himself in 
its then position, with a view to occupy the attention of the 
enemy, and to order the rest, under Lambert, to cross the 
Forth at Queensferry, and enter Fife. In his narrative of 
what followed, he begins his dispatch to the Speaker of the 



JULY 1651. 195 

English Parliament, in these words : " After our waiting 
upon the Lord, and not knowing what course to take, for 
indeed we know nothing but what God pleaseth to teach 
us of his great mercy, we were directed to send a party to 
get us a landing by our boats, &c. fcc." In short, on the 
morning of the 17th July, Colonel Overton crossed the 
Forth with 1400 men, and took possession of the North 
Ferry and Dunfermline ^ without opposition, while Lambert 
followed with two regiments of horse, and two of foot. As 
soon as the royal army received intelligence of »this move- 
ment, they sent 4000 men under Generals Holborn and 
Brown who, on Sunday, came in sight of the enemy near 
Dunfermline. A battle was fought on the same day, with 
the success which attended all the military operations 
of the English in this war, or the fatality which accom- 
panied those of their enemies. General Sir John Brown 
was taken prisoner, and died soon after. The loss of the 
English was too trifling to be mentioned ; while that of 
the Scots in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was 1 general, 
2 colonels, 1 major, 13 captains, 17 lieutenants, 29 ensigns, 
5 quarter-masters, 26 sergeants, and nearly 2000 privates. 
In consequence of this defeat, Inchgarvie and Burnt- 
island within a few days surrendered to the English ; while 
some of their troops marched along the, south coast of Fife, 
where they committed some excesses, particularly at 
Wemyss and Anstruther. Writing of this success to the 
Speaker of the English Parliament, Cromwell says : " This 
is an unspeakable mercy ; I trust the Lord will follow it 
until he hath perfected peace and truth. It''s sealed upon 
our hearts that this, as all the rest, is from the Lord's 
goodness, and not from man. I hope it becometh me to 

^ Extracts fx'om the Dunfermline Kirk-Session Records : — " 17th July 
1651, being Thursday, Cromwell's army landed here, who, on the Sabbath 
thereafter, battle being beside Pitreavie, killed and cut many of our men, 
and robbed and plundered all. Every man that was able, fled for a time, 
so that there could be no meeting for discipline this space." 

" 12th Aug. — The boards and seats of the session-house, and the kirk 
boxes being all broken, and the haill money plundered and taken away by 
Cromwell's men, it is thought fit that the session house be repaired, and box 
mended, as also a new brod (board or wooden plate) be made to gather the 
offering." 



196 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

pray that we may walk humbly and self- deny ingly before 
the Lord, and believingly also, &c." On the 29th July, 
he writes to the same personage from Burntisland, " The 
greatest part of the army is in Fife, waiting what way God 
will further lead us. It hath pleased God to give us 
Burntisland, which indeed is very conducive to the carry- 
ing on of our affairs, &c.'"'^ Whether this language pro- 
ceeded from a pious frame of mind, or was meant to con- 
ceal his private intentions, or was only in accordance with 
the usual •phraseology of the period, I leave others to de- 
termine. It is however evident, that Cromwell regarded 
himself as another Joshua, and certainly he had the suc- 
cess of one. 

But leaving him in possession of his victory, we must 
shift the scene, and attend to what was going on at the 
annual meeting of the General Assembly which was held 
this year on the 16th July, at St Andrews. From what 
we have already seen of the enmity of the Resolutioners 
and Protesters to each other, it was to be expected that 
this would break out with renowned violence when they met 
on this occasion, and it did. The Earl of Balcarras was 
the King^s Commissioner. Andrew Cant, a Protester, 
preached the opening sermon, which he commenced by in- 
timating that he would not enter on the subject of the 
public resolutions, as they were to be taken up by the As- 
sembly, and recommended peace ; but being unable to 
contain himself, he launched out into a strong vituperation 
of the opposite party. Robert Douglas, a Resolutioner, 
preached in the afternoon, and also recommended peace ; 
but he thought fit, nevertheless, to contradict the assertions 
of the morning sermon. Before they began their delibera- 
tions, the Commissioner read a letter from the King, ex- 
cusing his absence, exhorting them to unity, and desiring 
them to maintain the public resolutions. In some in- 
stances, double returns were given in of members elected 
by the opposing parties in their respective presbyteries. 
In other instances, the members undoubtedly chosen could 

1 Cromwell states that the water in the harbour of Bm^ntisland was then a. 
foot deeper at high tide than in the hai'bour of Leith. 



JULY 1651. 197 

not attend, owing to the places from whence they should 
have come being occupied by the English. These irregu- 
larities gave rise to opposing opinions and violent alterca- 
tions, in which the Royal Commissioner himself took a 
part, naturally siding with the Resolutioners. The writs 
having been presented, a Protester of the name of Menzies, 
proposed that none of the members who had been in the 
late Commission (which had sanctioned the repeal of the 
Act of Classes) should be received as members of the pre- 
sent Assembly, as their conduct had been scandalous and 
offensive. This proposal created an angry discussion. Mr 
James Guthrie seconded Mr Menzies' motion, and strongly 
censured the Resolutioners. Mr Blair said, that in the 
opening sermons which they had heard, peace had been 
recommended, whereas the words of Messrs Guthrie and 
Menzies were fierce and bitter. These two replied, that 
the motion they had introduced was for the exoneration of 
their consciences. The Resolutioners urged that nothing 
could be done till the Assembly was duly constituted, and 
a moderator chosen. The other party (who knew they 
were the minority) contended that the very accusation of 
" scandalous and offensive" conduct, was enough to debar 
any one from sitting in a kirk judicatory, till exculpated. 
Mr Douglas answered that no one could be either debarred 
or exculpated, till there was an authority nominated to 
debar or exculpate. Mr Samuel Rutherford then desired 
to give in a paper to be read, but he was told that no 
paper could be heard till a moderator was chosen. At 
last, Mr Douglas was chosen moderator by a majority, but 
he could preserve no moderation. Some insisted that the 
conduct of the late Commission should be tried in the first 
instance ; others that they should, before all things, pro- 
ceed to examine the writs that had been presented ; and a 
third party wished a conference for restoring peace and 
amity among themselves. The majority determined upon 
examining the w^its ; and they were not long in finding 
that those of P. Gillespie, and some other members of his 
party, were invalid, on the ground that having been guilty 



198 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

of opposing the public resolutions, they were, on that ac- 
count, by law, ineligible to seats. 

The above proceedings occupied four days of the Assem- 
bly's sitting, namely, till Saturday evening, the 19th inst. 
Next night, a report reached St Andrews, that the English 
(who, as we have seen, had crossed the Forth without op- 
position a few days before), had conquered a division of 
the royal army on the morning of that day. This was 
at Dunfermline, which is more than forty miles from St 
Andrews ; and the enemy was not likely to go to St An- 
drews, while the royal army lay so near them at Stirling. 
Notwithstanding, the members of the Assembly took the 
alarm, and to avoid encroaching on the sanctity of the 
Sabbath, " they met at 12 hours at night of the Lord's 
day." The object of this hasty meeting was to adjourn to 
some other town, farther removed from the opposing armies. 
Dundee was fixed on, and the Tuesday following was ap- 
, pointed for the day of re-assembling; but before adjourn- 
ing, the opposition party gave in a protest signed by twenty- 
two of their number, the chief of whom were Andrew Cant, 
James Guthrie, Patrick Gillespie, and Samuel Rutherford. 
They pronounced the Assembly an unlawful one, and re- 
fused to abide by its decisions, on the pleas that members 
duly elected were refused, that others had been hindered 
from appearing, and that the King's letter, and his Com- 
missioner, had overawed their deliberations. 

On their re-assembling at Dundee, they took the Pro- 
test into consideration; but the protesters being all ab- 
sent, no one appeared in behalf of it. The Commissioner 
suggested that they ought to support the honour of the 
Court, by interposing his Majesty's authority ; but the Mo- 
derator intimated that, agreeably to the laws of the Kirk, 
it behoved them to treat the matter ecclesiastically ; and 
then called upon the members to declare their opinion of 
the Protest. By all who spoke, it was pronounced to be 
deserving of the highest censure ; and the Moderator him- 
self declared, that " he thought it no hard matter to evince 
the protestation to be the highest breach of the Covenant 



JULY 1651. 199 

that ever was, since the work of the Reformation began."" 
Here was a proof of the ambiguity of their vaunted Cove- 
nant, that while these two parties professed to adhere to it 
most rigidly, they accused each other of departing from it ! 
The majority then cited the protesting ministers to the 
bar, and, though not present, deposed three of their num- 
ber, Guthrie, Gillespie, and Simson, and suspended a fourth, 
one James Nasmyth. Some of the charges brought against 
these delinquents were, " that they did publickly preach, 
and speak against the proceedings both of the Church and 
State, and were ringleaders in the matter of the Remon- 
strance and Protestation." For the rest of the protesters, 
the Commission of the General Assembly was appointed to 
deal with them, and, if tliey could not le conmnced^ to process 



After two days sitting, and dispatching the above busi- 
ness, they were alarmed, a second time, by rumours of the 
near approach of Cromwell's army, and hastily broke up 
their meeting ; though, in reality, the English were not 
nea.rer than before ; and if they had been, there is no reason 
to think that they would have troubled them, any more 
than they would have troubled the ministers of Edinburgh 
in the September preceding. They were too busy watching 
the motions of the King's army in the neighbourhood of 
Stirling, to give themselves any concern about a General 
Assembly of the Kirk at Dundee. In truth, they would be 
rather pleased than otherwise to see its members wasting 
their efforts on each other, instead of directing those efforts 
against the invaders of their country. There was no need 
for the English to do that against the Assembly which the 
Assembly was doing against itself. 

The acts of this St Andrews and Dundee Assembly 
made the breach wider than ever between the two parties ; 
so much so, that the validity or nullity of that assembly 
became afterwards a sort of party question among the 
ministers of the Kirk; the Resolutioners contending for 
the former, the Protesters for the latter.^ These protes- 

1 Laraont's Diary, p. 33. 

2 I have before me a work of more than 300 pages, published by a Protester 



200 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

ters, by their influence with their parishioners, when they re- 
turned home, used every endeavour to thwart the measures 
both of Kirk and State. So far were they from praying 
for the King, and the success of his army, that all their 
sermons were directed against the sins of his fathers house, 
and his own malignity. This could not fail to aid Orom- 
welFs cause, and damage that of the King, and thereby con- 
tributed to the disasters which followed. And this also 
accounts for the greater favour shewn to this party by the 
English, when they subsequently became masters of all 
Scotland. To this party the enthusiastic Livingstone ad- 
hered, though his friend Douglas was the leader of the op- 
posite one. In a letter, dated at Ancrum, the end of July 
this year, he exclaims, — " ! what matter of praise is it 
that the Lord hath prepared for himself a testimony at this 
Assembly ! " Meaning that his party had given in the pro- 
test we have mentioned, which he makes no doubt is " the 
doing of the Lord ; '' and so he runs on in the same extrava- 
gant style to the end of the letter. 

The Resolution party of the St Andrews Assembly (in a 
communication which they made to the English Presby- 
terians in the following month), thus speak of their oppo- 
nents : — " We need not warn you, dear brethren (seeing 
some among ourselves, under the specious name of the 
godly party, have carried on a devilish design of undoing 
Kirk and State, and setting up a boundless toleration and 
arbitrary government), to beware of misinformation from 
such men to take impression upon you. Their actions at 
home (to sail every wind, and roll every stone for their own 
advantage, and prejudice of the public), induceth us to be- 
lieve that they have not been idle towards you ; but active 
by their emissaries and papers to abuse you with misre- 
ports, and to prejudice you against our proceedings ; but we 

in 1652 (but where is not said) contending, in a most tedious and dry discourse, 
for « the nullity of the pretended Assembly at St Andrews and Dundee." The 
book is no longer of any interest, but I waded through it in the hope of gather- 
ing from it some new historical facts, in which, however, I was disappointed. 
Though written by a Protester, it is done with considerable candour ; there are 
but few abusive words ; the style is good, and the spelling astonishingly ac- 
curate. 



JULY 1651. 201 

are confident that ye who have had so great proof of the faith- 
fulness of the judicatories of the Kirk in guarding warily 
against enemies on both hands, as well Malignants as Sec- 
taries, have not suffered yourselves to believe evil of your 
brethren ; and we do earnestly beseech you to beware 
that the trust which any of them have had from us, and 
the estimation they had among you, while they were about 
the discharge of that trust,^ be not inductive of your being 
now deceived by those whose principles and practices, what- 
ever their intentions be, tend to the giving up of you and 
us unto the avowed enemies of Christ's kingdom." 2 

The other party did not neglect to retaliate in still 
stranger terms, in the November after, in a pamphlet which 
they published, called " A Discovery, after some search, of 
the Sins of the Ministers ;"" but as this extends beyond the 
period to which I have limited myself, I shall take no far- 
ther notice of it. 

I have, however, one more remark to make concerning 
these Protesters, namely, that they were the persons who, 
after the Restoration, gave so much trouble to the civil 
government. Our sympathy is claimed for them on the 
ground of their having been persecuted, though they them- 
selves, as we have seen, had persecuted with still more 
severity, when they had the power in their hands. But 
however we may admire the firmness with which they 
adhered to their opinions, and however we may condemn 
the policy of those who sought to convert them by violent 
means, there is one thing which must forever destroy 
their claim to the crown of martyrdom, and that is, the 
impatience with which they submitted to their punish- 
ment, and the armed resistance which they offered to the 
legal authority which inflicted it. " If when we do well, 
and suffer for it, and take it patiently^ this (but nothing 
short of this), is acceptable with God." I am far from ad- 

1 Alluding, I suppose, to some of the Protesting party having been Commis- 
sioners for the Kirk to the Westminster Assembly of Divines, some years be- 
fore this, such as Samuel Rutherford and Johnston of "Warriston. 

2 Peterkin's Records of the Kirk of Scotland, p. 638. 



202 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

mitting that these men " did well ;" but supposing it, it is 
certain that they yielded only when they could not help 
themselves, and that they would have retaliated on their 
opponents if they could, and did retaliate wlien they could. 
But such conduct is not in accordance with the precepts 
of the Gospel, nor with the example of its Divine Author. 
At the same time, I think these men followed up their 
republican religion to its natural results. 

But we must now return to the field of battle near Dun- 
fermline, where Cromwell, with his wonted good fortune, 
had obtained an easy victory overa large detachment of the 
royalist forces. This seems to have caused considerable 
perplexity in the main army at Stirling, Anxious to re- 
deem their loss, they left their entrenchments and marched 
towards Dunfermline ; but hearing that the enemy was 
coming to meet them, they returned and occupied their 
former position. Finding this was a false alarm, they 
again, after two days, marched for Dunfermline, and once 
more fell back upon Torwood. These marchings and coun- 
ter marchings betrayed a want of generalship, and dis- 
couraged the soldiers, who thought their leaders were in- 
sufficient, and that many favourable opportunities of at- 
tacking the enemy had been neglected. " Good occasions 
of fighting were neglected by the cowardice or treachery 
of their fanatic generals, and the best and bravest of their 
troops sent upon desperate and ill-concerted exploits : but 
the worst of all was, that they were in perpetual division 
among themselves, and all their counsels and designs be- 
trayed to the enemy.'' ^ 

This was a deplorable state of things, after all that the 
King and his supporters had done to strengthen the army 
at Stirling. But though we have no history of the divisions 
here and elsewhere alluded to, yet there can be no doubt 
that they existed to a great extent ; and must have arisen 
from the discordant materials of which the army was com- 
posed — English and Scots, Lowlanders and Highlanders, 
Covenanters and Anti-Covenanters, Malignants and Pres- 

^ Sir Evven Cameron's Memoirs, p. 94. 



JULY 1651. 203 

byterians, Resolutioners, and Protesters. Under these dis- 
heartening circumstances, Charles and his principal officers 
held a council of war ; upon which, they came to the serious 
determination of giving the slip to the Sectarian army, 
and marching southwards, with a view to pass into England, 
in the hope of stirring up that country in their favour. 
" Though the army was miserably rent into factions, Argyll 
alone opposed the measure. He argued, that it was unge- 
nerous to abandon the Scots, who had first offered the King 
an asylum, and supported him as their monarch ; that the 
English army might still be prevented from bringing mat- 
ters to the issue of a battle, and that another winter's 
campaign w^ould probably prove fatal to it ; but that as 
there was no rising in England, and little could be calcu- 
lated on, the Scottish army would, unsupported, be inevi- 
tably soon forced to an engagement, under all the dis- 
advantages of fighting in a foreign country, when they 
must have provoked the inhabitants by living at free quar- 
ters." ^ 

The event certainly proved that this reasoning was just; 
and we know, from CromwelFs own admission, that sickness 
then prevailed among his troops, that his supplies of all 
kinds were falling short, and that he would not have risked 
another winter in Scotland.^ 

This appears, among other documents, from the following 
letter addressed by Cromwell to the President of the 
Council of State, probably from Queensferry, and dated 
26th July. 

" My Lord, — I am able to give you no more account 
than what you have by my last, only w^e have now in Fife 
about thirteen or fourteen thousand horse and foot. The 
enemy is at his old lock, and lieth in and near Stirling, 
where we cannot come to fight him, except he please, or 
we go upon too manifest hazards, he having very strongly 
laid himself, and having a very great advantage there, 
where we hear he hath lately gotten great provisions of 
meal, and reinforcement of his strength out of the north, 

1 Brodies History of the British Empire, iv, p. 304. 
- Carey's Memorials, ii. p. 392. 



204 TEKSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

under Marquis Huntley. It is our business still to wait 
upon God, to shew us our way how to deal with this subtle 
enemy, which I hope he will. Our forces on this side of 
the river are not very many, wherefore I have sent for 
Colonel Rich's, and shall appoint them, with the forces mi- 
der Colonel Sanders, to embody close upon the borders, 
and to be in readiness to join with those left on this side 
the Firth, or to be for the security of England, as occasion 
shall offer, there being little use of them where they be, as 
we know. 

" Your soldiers begin to fall sick, through the wet weather 
which has lately been ; it is desired, therefore, that the re- 
cruits of foot determined may rather come sooner in time 
than usually, and may be sure to be full in numbers according 
to your appointment, whereof great failure has lately been. 
For the way of raising them, it is wholly submitted to your 
pleasure; and we hearing you rather choose to send us 
volunteers than pressed men, shall be very glad you go that 
way. 

" Our spades are spent to a very small number ; we desire, 
therefore, that of the five thousand tools we lately sent for, 
at the least three thousand of them may be spades, they 
wearing most away in our works, and being most useful. 
Our horse arms, especially our pots, are come to a very 
small number ; it is desired we may have a thousand backs 
and breasts, and fifteen hundred pots. We have left us in 
store but four hundred pair of pistols, two hundred saddles, 
six hundred pikes, two thousand and thirty muskets, where- 
of thirty snaphancies.^ These are our present stores ; and 
not knowing what you have sent us by this fleet that is 
coming, we desire that we may be considered therein. Our 
cheese and butter is our lowest store of victual. We were 
necessitated to pay the soldiery moneys now at their going 
over into Fife, whereby the treasury is much exhausted, 
although we desire to husband it what we can, 

" This being the principal time of action, we desire your 
lordship to take a principal care that the money may be 
supplied us with all possible speed, and those other things 

1 Muskets with triggers or snappers. 



JULY 1651. 205 

herewith mentioned, your affairs so necessarily requiring 
the same. 

" The castle of Ennisgarwey (Inchgarvey), which lieth in 
the river, almost in the midway between the North and 
South Ferry (commonly called Queen s Ferry), was deliver- 
ed to us on Thursday last ; they marched away with their 
swords and baggage only, leaving us sixteen cannon, and 
all their other arms and ammunition, — I remain, fcc.'' ^ 

While the chiefs of the royal army were debating about 
their march into England, the Duke of Hamilton wrote the 
following letter to his niece (who afterwards succeeded to 
his estates), from Stirling, the 28th July. 

" Dear Niece, — Indeed I know not what to say to you. 
I would fain say something more encouraging than my last, 
but I cannot lie. Our condition is no better since that 
time. We have lost 1000 men (I fix twice that number) 
from our army. Since the enemy shuns fighting with us, 
except upon disadvantages, we must either starve, disband, 
or go with a handful of men into England. This last 
seems to be the least ill ; yet it appears very desperate to 
me, for more reasons than I will trouble you with. [Here 
follow some pious reflections.] Dear niece, I should never 
be weary to talk with you, though this be a subject I 
cannot speak of well ; but even that happiness is bereft 
me by the importunate crov/d of persons that are now 
in the room with me, grudging the time I take in telling 
you, that while I am, I am yours, &c. &c." 

Before setting out on his march for England, the King 
borrowed ^200 sterling from the town of Stirling, which 
sum the Magistrates had much difficulty in raising ; to so 
low an ebb had the credit and prosperity of the country 
fallen, in consequence of the civil broils which, during the 
twelve previous years, had been wasting its resources ! 

On Thursday the 31st the royal army left Stirling, and 
their entrenchments in its vicinity, all being permitted to 
stay behind who disapproved of the southern expedition, 
or who had no taste for it. The Marquis of Argyll, who 
had long been the chief ruler of the Presbyterians, but was 

^ Carey's Memorials, ii. p. 288. 



206 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

latterly not hearty in the King's service, from his jealousy 
of Hamilton, was the chief person of those who availed 
themselves of this permission, though his friends assert that 
he would have accompanied the King but for his wife's 
indisposition. Besides him, the Marquis of Huntly, and the 
Earls of Leven, Callender, Sutherland, Wemyss, Crawford, 
&c., remained for the purpose of defending their country 
against the farther encroachments of the English. But in 
this respect they did little or nothing. Even the castle of 
Stirling surrendered to General Monk within a fortnight 
after the King had quitted it, and the whole of Scotland 
soon after followed its example. 

Cromwell meantime, not aware of this movement of the 
royalists, had marched from Burntisland to Perth, which 
town he took on the 2d August. Here it was that he first 
received the intelligence of the King and his army having 
marched in the direction of England. On this he imme- 
diately returned, crossed the Forth at Queensferry on the 4th 
inst., and went to Leith to concert measures for pursuing 
them. From this town he wrote a letter, on the same day, to 
the Speaker, stuffed with his usual cant, in which he states, 
in substance, that finding no means of drawing the enemy 
from their entrenchments, and being most anxious to bring 
the campaign to a speedy termination, as he could not risk 
another winter in so severe a climate, he had purposely 
marched to Perth, in order to cut off their supplies, and 
thus force them to one alternative or the other. He then 
assures the Parliament that he will pursue the enemy with 
the utmost speed ; and desires that, on their part, they 
will call out all the disposable force of the Commonwealth 
to co-operate with his endeavours. His next measure was 
to order Lambert, with 800 horse, to follow in the rear of 
the royal army, while General Harrison and Colonel Rich, 
with 3000 horse, should hover upon and harrass their east 
flank. He himself was to follow in a few days with the 
main body. General Monk he left behind with another 
division of troops, to complete the reduction of Scotland, 
with particular orders to use the utmost severity against 
all who should oppose him ; and, above all, not to permit 



I 



AUGUST 1651. 207 

any undue licence of the ministers in their pulpits or kirk 
courts. With what exactitude and success Monk obeyed 
those instructions is well known, though it does not fall 
within my province to relate. 

The Scottish army, amounting (according to Sir James 
Turner, who belonged to it) to 9000 foot, and 4000 horse 
(other authorities make it more), marched, with all due 
speed, through Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire, passing by 
Biggar and Moffat. At Moffat they were joined by about 
300 horse belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, which, how- 
ever, was only a part of what that nobleman had ordered ; 
but no more had been able to assemble, owing to that part 
of the country where his estates lay being occupied by the 
enemy. At the castle of Boghall, near Biggar, Lesley 
summoned the English garrison to surrender ; but the 
governor returned for answer, that he held it for the Com- 
monwealth of England, and would not yield till compelled. 
On the 5th August they came to Woodhouse, on the border 
of England, from which place the King published " A De- 
claration of general pardon and oblivion to all his loving 
subjects of the kingdom of England, and dominion of Wales, 
that would desist from assisting the usurped authority of 
the pretended Commonwealth of England, and return to 
the obedience they owed to their lawful King, and to the 
ancient happy government of the kingdom ; except only 
Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, John Bradshaw, John 
Cook (pretended solicitor), and all others who did actually 
sit and vote in the murder of his royal father." And, 
lastly, the declaration set forth, that '^ this service being 
done, the Scotch army should quietly retire, that so all 
armies might be disbanded, and a lasting peace settled with 
religion and righteousness." 

A copy of this declaration was sent enclosed in a letter 
to Thomas Andrews, then Lord Mayor of London ; but in- 
stead of producing the desired effect, it was, by order of the 
English Parliament, publickly burnt by the hangman at the 
Old Exchange, and their own declaration issued instead of 
it, wdth beat of drum and sound of trumpet, by which his 
Majesty (to whom they would give no other name than 



208 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

Charles Stewart), " his agents and abetters"*' were styled 
" traitors, rebels, and public enemies." 

During the march to the English border little discipline, 
it seems, was observed by the Scottish army : " We got quick- 
ly to English ground," says Sir James Turner, ''• but with 
a great deal of mischief to all those poor Scotch people by 
whose dwellings we marched ; robbing and plundering being 
used by the soldiers to admiration and inhumanity."^ But 
when they got into England they judged it expedient to 
change their system, for then the discipline became so 
strict, that if any soldier was convicted of robbery he was 
immediately shot. 

On the 6th of August they came to Carlisle, which, for 
form's sake, the King summoned to surrender. From a 
place called Dorton, the Earl of Lauderdale thus writes on 
the 7th, to Lord Balcarras : " Yesterday, I wrote to you 
by the treasurer — and sent you the King's declaration. I 
told you that his Majesty wrote and invited the Governor 
of Carlisle to his duty, but he vouchsafed no answer to the 
King ; only he wrote to Leighton (who, by a letter, thought 
to have reasoned him into obedience), reproached him with 
leaving the Parliament, and concluded with his own pro- 
fessions of loyalty to the Commonwealth of England. We 
passed the river (the Eden) yesterday, and drew up the 
army on this side Rokeby, where the King was proclaimed 
King of England by Mr Jackson, whom the King created 
King-at-Arms for that day and occasion ; and, after the 
ceremony, knighted him. The army was drawn up ; and 
Jackson, attended by the nobility of both kingdoms, after 
prayer, did, in the name of the kingdom of England, pro- 

* " August 21. 165] . — The which day, complaints coining in to the brethren 
of horrible insoleneies, abuses, and plunderings of some soldiers of this new 
levy, and of a fearful murder committed by one of the soldiers, who, for no 
cause, hath murdered a gracious young man in the parish of Lesmahago, the 
brethren thought it their duty to desire Mr John Hume to go to the committee 
of the shire, and there to make known to them the foresaid particulars, and 
desire to do them justice." — Presbytery Booh of Lanark, p. 2Q. 

I have no doubt this is to be viewed as a confirmation of Sir James Turner's 
account, for though the army must have passed through Lanarkshire on the 
2d and 3d of August, yet there had been no meeting of presbytery till the 
21st, to take cognizance of the disorders then committed. 



AUGUST 1651. 209 

claim King Charles the Second. All the trumpets sounded, 
drums beat, and cannons shot. The people expresses great 
good affections. This morning, warrants are going out to- 
wards Penrith, where we hope to be to-night. His Ma- 
jesty went close to Carlisle with eighty horse. A guard of 
the enemy was advanced on this side the bridge ; but Sir 
W. Blackett, with twenty horse, seconded by Ross, beat in 
their party and reserve, killed one, hurt some, and Colonel 
Ogan had his horse killed. They gave us some cannonshot, 
but we got no hurt. This is all I can say of public. We 
long to hear from you, and what is become of Oliver. For 
Grod's sake, send to us ; and above all things, haste the 
levies in all Scotland, and make an army to follow us. 
Send for powder, and let it come to the Isle of Man, which 
must be our magazine.^' 

Next day, the same Lord thus writes from Carlton near 
Penrith, to his w^ife, who was then in Holland : " As for news, 
I can tell you little. His Majesty is thus far advanced in- 
to England with a very good army, able, by the blessing of 
God, to do his business. They are, I dare say, near double 
the number of those that the King of Sweden entered 
Germany with, if they be not more. As soon as we came 
into England, his Majesty was by an Englishman (whom 
he made King-at-Arms for that day) proclaimed King of 
England, on the head of the army, with great acclamation 
of the army, and shooting off all the cannon of the army. 
Then yesterday, he was proclaimed here in Penrith, and 
wdll be, in all the market towns where we march. Never 
was an army so regular as we have been since we came in- 
to England ; I dare say we have not taken the worth of a 
sixpence : and whatever you hear of our misfortunes in 
Fife, or whatever our enemies print or write, trust me this 
is the best Scots army that ever I saw, and I hope shall 
prove best. All those that were unwilling to hazard all in 
this cause with their King, have, on specious pretence, 
(most of them) left us. This is a natural purge, and will 
do us much good. Nothing of action yet, except the driv- 
ing of some small parties, with which I will not trouble 
you. One thing I cannot forget ; this morning, my Lord 

J4 



210 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES (Jl. 

Howard of Escrick's son came in to us from the enemy, 
with his whole troop : his Majesty received him graciously, 
and immediately knighted him. He is the first, but I am 
confident a few days will shew us more that will return to 
their duty/' 

Again, to Lord Balcarras, Lauderdale writes thus : " I 
cannot neglect any occasion to let you know his Majesty 
and his army are well (God be praised !) never men were 
more hearty for all their toil. We might have men 
enough, if we could get arms ; some we get. This poor 
place hath given in a day's bread and cheese, which is our 
first supply in England. We have a strong party ad- 
vanced to Kendal for more provisions, whither we are to 
march to-morrow, God willing. More I would write, but 
it is very probable my friends shall not be the first that 
shall see this, for it goes a way I am not sure of, and 
through an enemy's quarters a long way. Yesterday, we 
had a small party, commanded by Captain Inglis, of the 
regiment that was Riccarton's, who discovered about 
twenty of the enemy. He sent a corporal and six horse 
who drove them before them. Then he advanced himself 
alone, and only two with him : they overtook them at a gate 
which the enemy were making fast ; so the enemy made 
haste off: but Tnglis received a shot in his leg, which I 
hope is nothing. Upon this, and the intelligence that two 
thousand horse of the enemy were near, the right wing of 
our horse advanced very fast, half way to Appleby : but find- 
ing it impossible to overtake them, seeing they were then the 
length of Brough, we returned ; having only the advantage 
to get hot coats, and mine was as hot as ever in my life." 

Lord Wentworth thus writes to Mr Crofts, afterwards 
Lord Crofts : " By God's grace we are come as far as 
Penrith in Cumberland, with a good army of fourteen or 
fifteen thousand foot, and about six thousand horse, all 
absolutely at the King's command, as much as any army I 
ever saw under the command of his father." 

The Duke of Hamilton thus writes to the same Mr 
Crofts, in a less confident strain, and perhaps with a pre- 
sentiment of his approaching fate : " Dear Will, — The last 



AUGUST 1651. 211 

thing I did was to drink your health, with Lord Thomas, 
Dan. O'Neile, and Lauderdale, who are now all laughing at 
the ridiculousness of our condition. We have quit Scot- 
land, being scarce able to maintain it ; and yet we grasp 
at all, and nothing but all will satisfy us, or to lose all. I 
confess I cannot tell you whether our hopes or fears are 
greatest : but we have one stout argument — despair ; for 
we must now either stoutly fight it, or die. All the rogues 
have left us, I shall not say whether for fear or disloyalty ; 
but all now with his Majesty are such as will not dispute 
his commands." 

On the 9th of August, the army advanced as far as 
Appleby and Kendal, resting at a spot on the road called 
Black Dub, between Crosby-Ravensworth and Shap. Con- 
cerning this spot, I need do no more than mention that, a few 
years ago, an obelisk was erected there, " to commemorate," 
says the newspaper account, " the circumstance of King 
Charles II. with the Scottish army having dined there, and 
drunk of the waters of the spring, on their march south- 
wards, a few days previous to the battle of Worcester. 
This place is one of the most solitary and dreary that can 
well be imagined, surrounded on all sides by unenclosed 
heath ; and since the formation of the road over Shap- 
Fells, is seldom seen except by the Shepherd or the sports- 
man. However, though now so silent and deserted, it was 
once the great thoroughfare from Scotland, through Lan- 
cashire, to the metropolis of England. On one side of the 
obehsk is the following inscription : — ' Here at Black-Dub, 
the source of the Egremont, Charles II. regaled his army 
on their march from Scotland, August 8th, a.d. 1651.'" 
The date, I have no doubt, should have been the 9th. 

I must here go a little out of my way, to give a very 
characteristic letter from the regicide Harrison, dated New- 
castle, 6th August, and addressed to the Committee of the 
County of York : " Gentlemen, — The Lord having so or- 
dered it that our army are masters of Fife, by which the 
enemy gives up their expectation of Scotland for lost, they 
are necessitated, for want of provisions, as their last re- 
fuge, to run for England, taking the opportunity of our 



212 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

armies being on the other side the great river ; and although 
there be a mighty spirit of terror from God upon them, so 
that they are ready to fly when none follows them, yet their 
large promises to their soldiers of plunder in England, bears 
up the spirits of divers to make another adventure for it, 
forgetting the large testimony the Lord formerly gave 
against them. It now remains, that you, and every good 
man, give all diligence to improve your interests, and all 
possible means God may put into your hands, to give a 
check to this vile generation, until our army may come up, 
who will follow hard after them, that the good of the land 
may not be devoured by such caterpillars. 

" I have with me about three thousand horse, which I 
shall endeavour to dispose of as God in his love and wisdom 
shall please to instruct me ; and wherewith I hope to give 
the enemy some trouble, if some foot could be speedily 
raised to break down bridges, or stop some passes upon 
them. However, considering the battle is the Lord's, and 
not ours, and it is alike to him to save by few or many, I 
hope we may be useful in this juncture, though we be few, 
mean, and none more unworthy. 

" The Lord quicken you, me, and all that profess to 
fear him, to give all diligence in our stations to quit our- 
selves as the friends of Christ, against the men that will not 
have him to reign, though God hath sworn he will set his 
Son upon his holy hill, and they that oppose him shall be 
broke in pieces as a potter's vessel. The enemy's hope is, 
that Englishmen will be so mad as to join with them (seeing 
they have lost their credit with their own countrymen) ; 
which we hope God will prevent in a good measure by your 
hands, and also lift up a standard against them ; wherein 
not doubting your best assistance, and (much more) the 
loving kindness of God, I remain, &;c. T. Harrison." 

What delusion could equal this ? How could Charles IL 
be said, at this time, to be opposing the reign of Christ I 
Or how could such men as Harrison be said to be establish- 
ing it ? Might not another text of Scripture be much more 
correctly put into the mouths of the parliamentary leaders, 
when fighting against their lawful king, — " This is the son, 



AUGUST 1651. 213 

come let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours." 
It is amusing to find this fifth- monarchy fanatic, the very 
next day, writing to the President of the Council at West • 
minster, expressing his great desire to have " 4000 or 5000 
godli/ men, icell mounted T'^ 

Little occurred in the march through the north of Eng- 
land to encourage the royal army, but, on the contrary, 
much to dishearten it. The English commonalty were, for 
the most part, prepossessed against the King, and active in 
reinforcing the troops under Cromwell and Lambert, who 
were now joined by General Harrison and Colonel Eich. 
The Scots themselves were divided respecting their un- 
happy Covenant, which seemed destined to do mischief where- 
ever it obtruded itself. The stricter Presbyterians were 
bent on enforcing it upon all whom they could reach ; 
while the King and his Episcopalian friends thought it 
wholly inexpedient to call attention to it among the Eng- 
lish. Thus, dissension was produced among those whose 
only chance of success lay in being united. 

When the royal army had advanced a little farther. 
General Massey was sent into the south-west of Lancashire, 
for the purpose of stirring up the loyal inhabitants in favour 
of the King ; and particularly of co-operating with the Earl 
of Derby, who was then on his way from the Isle of Man 
with a small force for his Majesty's service. But Massey 
happened to be a Presbyterian ; and those divines of the 
Kirk who were in the army, gave him their secret instruc- 
tions to proclaim the King, and the whole army's zeal for the 
Covenant, and their resolution to prosecute the true intent 
of this engagement ; and they forbade him to receive any 
recruits, men or officers, except such as would subscribe the 
Covenant. 2 When the King and his friends heard of this 
they were very angry ; but though the above instructions 
were annulled, the evil caused by them could not be undone. 

J Carey's Memorials, pp, 296, 302. 

2 Collier's Ecc. History. It is remarkable that when, three years before 
this, the Duke of Hamilton marched an army into England for the support of 
Charles I,, the Covenant was even then the cause of jealousy and dissension 
among its ranks. 



214 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

Many of the English, at the very rumour of the Covenant 
being dominant in the royal camp, kept back, when they 
would otherwise have offered their services. And on the other 
hand, when the zealous supporters of that bond found that 
the King and his party paid so little reverence to their idol, 
many of them deserted, and returned to Scotland. Thus 
every thing fell out unfortunately for the King. The ad- 
herents of the Covenant left him because he would not wor- 
ship it as they did ; and its enemies refrained from joining 
him, because they knew he had sworn to uphold it. 

The English force under Lambert kept so closely in pur- 
suit of the Scots, that they entered Penrith the same day 
that the latter quitted it. At Appleby, a slight show of 
resistance was offered by some squadrons of the enemy^s 
horse, but they were easily dispersed. At Warrington, a 
more formidable opposition was made to the Scots when 
attempting to cross the bridge over the Mersey. The stone 
bridge had been destroyed, but the royalists laid wooden 
planks over the broken piers, and the King himself was the 
first to cross amidst the applause of his army. This was 
done so boldly and so rapidly, that the English Generals, 
though they had 9000 men, withdrew after an ineffectual 
resistance ; as Lambert himself acknowledges in his parlia^ 
mentary dispatch, where he says, " We gave the enemy 
opposition till we saw cause to draw off, securing the re- 
treat of our foot by parties of horse." The Duke of Ha- 
milton advised that the English should be pursued, but this 
was overruled by Lesley ; so that the only result of this 
partial success was to enable the Scots to push on to Wor- 
cester, the scene of their final overthrow. 

When the army arrived at Newport in Shropshire, the 
King sent a summons, dated 20th August, to Colonel Mack- 
worth, the Governor of Shrewsbury, to deliver up that 
town and castle to himself; offering him a pardon for his 
past rebellion, and promising him such a reward for his 
obedience, as he might afterwards have it in his power to 
bestow. The answer, which was of the same date, contain- 
ed a civil enough, but positive refusal to comply with the 
summons. 



AUGUST 1651. 215 

About the same time, his Majesty sent a similar demand 
to Sir Thomas Middleton, Governor of Chirk Castle, in the 
same county ; but this gentleman was both less civil and 
less humane than the Governor of Shrewsbury ; for not only 
did he return no answer to the royal message, but he 
caused the messenger to be seized, and sent prisoner to 
Wrexham ; and he was afterwards most unjustifiably hanged 
at Chester, for obeying his lawful King. 

To add to these discouragements, General Lesley (who 
was certainly incompetent for his office, and has even been 
suspected of treachery), ^ grew despondent of final success, 
and did not shew that activity and enterprise which are so 
necessary to keep up the spirits of an army in an enemy's 
country. There were also jealousies and misunderstandings 
between him and some of his officers. The Duke of Buck- 
ingham, being of higher rank than he, and, in his own esti- 
mation, an abler general, wished to supersede him in his 
command, and became sullen and discontented, because the 
King refused to gratify him. 

In short, Charles's army, unsupported from without, and 
distracted by jealousy within, was much in the same condi- 
tion with that of his grand-nephew Prince Charles, ninety- 
four years after, when marching in nearly the same direc- 
tion, and with the same object in view ; the result too being 
also the same, with this difference, that the latter returned to 
be defeated and dispersed in Scotland, while the former went . 
on to be defeated and dispersed in England ; the leaders, 
in both instances, effecting their escape to France through 
numberless dangers and difficulties ; and aided by numerous 
adherents of the humblest rank in society, not one of whom, 
though tempted by a large reward, ever entertained the 
thought of betraying them. ^ 

1 He was created Lord Newark after the Restoration ; but the King was 
told that he should rather have hanged him for his old icork. 

^ There were other points of resemblance between the two fugitives, as we 
shall see more fully hereafter. Flora Macdonald corresponded with Miss 
Lane, and the seven men of Glenmoriston to the five Penderills. The periods 
also occupied in the two expeditions were the same, extending from the sum- 
mer of one year till the autumn of the following year. Another curious coinci- 
dence was, that when the royal wanderers were put to their shifts for pro- 



216 PERSONAL HISTORY OP CHARLES H. 

When the King quitted Scotland, he had written to the 
Earl of Derby, then in the Isle of Man, to meet him in 
Lancashire with as many men as he could muster ; and that 
gallant nobleman had met him accordingly with 60 horse 
and 260 foot before the army arrived at Warrington. But 
from that place it was thought proper to send him back 
into Lancashire with 200 horse, consisting chiefly of gentle- 
men, with a view to raise the well affected in that quarter, 
and bring them to the army. This expedition proved un- 
fortunate ; for though the Earl got recruits to the number 
of some hundreds, they fell in, on the 25th of the month, 
with Colonel Lilbourne near Wigan, who, having a better 
disciplined or superior force, attacked and defeated them.^ 
Lord Widdrington, Sir Thomas Tildlesby, and some of 
Derby's best officers were killed, many were made prisoners, 
while the Earl himself, being severely wounded, was forced 
to fly from the scene of action. At Wigan, observing a 
door open, he threw himself from his horse, and sprang into 
the passage. A female barred the door behind him, the 
pursuers were checked for an instant, and when they began 
to search the house, he had escaped through the window. 
Weak from fatigue and loss of blood, he wandered in a 
southerly direction, concealing himself by day and travelling 
by night, till he found a safe retreat in a retired mansion 
called Boscobel House (afterwards the temporary asylum 

visions, as they often were, it was found that the Princes were the most skilful 
cooJcs of their respective parties. Finally, both evinced great bravery and 
presence of mind in battle, and bore up under their sufferings and privations 
with astonishing fortitude ; but, having ill-regulated minds, the one after- 
wards yielded to the seductions of dissipation in his prosperity, and the other 
sunk into a reckless intemperance in his adversity. 

" Bi-itain may well exult at the different conduct which her people exhi- 
bited to their fugitive monarchs ; and contrast, with the arrest of Louis (XVI.) 
at Varennes, the fidelity of the western counties to Charles II., after the 
battle of Worcester, and the devotion of the Scotch Highlanders to Prince 
Charles after the defeat at Culloden. The secret of the latter's concealment 
was entrusted to above 200 persons, most of them in the very poorest circum- 
stances. £30,000 was offered for his apprehension ; confiscation and death 
pronounced against his adherents ; yet not one Highlander was faithless to 
his Sovereign." Alison's Hist, of Europe, ii. p. 244, 

1 Pennant says, that Lilbourne had SOOO troops in all, while Derby had only 
600 horse. 



AUGUST 1651. 217 

of the King himself), the property of Mr Giftbrd, a Ro- 
manist and a royalist. There he was received and secreted 
by William Penderill and his wife, the servants entrusted with 
the care of the mansion ; and having recovered his strength, 
was conducted by the former to Worcester, where he arriv- 
ed a few days after the King had entered it. 

Meanwhile Cromwell was following the royal army, not 
in the direct line of its march, but more to the eastward, 
with the intention probably of hindering its approach to 
the capital, where the utmost consternation prevailed among 
the upholders of the Parliament. " Both the city and coun- 
try'," says Mrs Hutchinson, ''were allamazed, and doubtful 
of their own and the Commonwealth's safety. Some could 
not hide very pale and unmanly fears, and were in such dis- 
traction of spirit that it much disturbed their counsels." 
Even Bradshaw, " stout-hearted as he was, trembled for his 
neck.'' And what added to their perplexity and consterna- 
tion was, that they suspected Cromwell of having intention- 
ally allowed the King to pass into England, in order to 
serve some ambitious design of his own — so little confidence 
had they in him, notwithstanding the extreme piety of the 
language which he had addressed to them in his official 
letters ! ^ But there seems to have been no ground for this 
suspicion. Cromwell marched by Newcastle, Rippon, Don- 
caster, Mansfield, Nottingham, Coventry, and Warwick, 
at which last place, he learnt that the King had stopped 
at Worcester, where be intended to remain. He then 
concentrated his forces at Kineton, and having been by this 
time joined by General Fleetwood, he proceeded to unite 
their combined force with that of Lambert and Harrison, 
previous to a united attack on the royalists. 

Worcester had always been well affected during the civil 
wars, and was the last garrison town in all England which 
had held out in favour of Charles I. ; and at this very time, 
many of the gentry of the town and neighbourhood, who 
had been arrested on account of their loyalty, were impri- 
soned within its walls. The parliamentary garrison, amount- 
ing to 500 liorse, knowing the temper of the inhabitants, 
^ Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson, p. 356. 



218 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

provided for their safety by flight, as soon as they heard of 
the approach of the royal army ; the immediate consequence 
of which was, that when the King arrived on the 22d, the 
citizens, headed by their mayor Mr Thomas Lisens, joyfully 
opened their gates to him, and the next day proclaimed 
him King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland. They 
also set at liberty all their political prisoners, supplied the 
Scottish army with every thing needful after their long and 
rapid march, and commenced the repair of their ramparts, 
which the Parliament had ordered to be dismantled. 

Here, then, Charles determined to stop, and risk the 
success of his Enghsh invasion on the defence of this loyal 
city. On the day after his arrival he issued a manifesto, 
calling on " all the nobility, gentry, and others, of what 
degree and condition soever of our county of Worcester, 
from 16 to 60, to appear in their persons, and with any 
horses, arms, and ammunition they may have or can pro- 
cure, at Pitchcroft, near the city, on Tuesday next, the 26th 
of this instant month, when myself will be present that day, 
to dispose of such of them as shall think fit for our service 
in the war,"' &c. &c.^ 

On Sunday the 24th, Mr Crosby, an eminent divine in 
Worcester, preached before his Majesty in the Cathedral 
Church ; and in his " bidding prp.yer''"' before the sermon, 
he used the canonical words, " and herein I require you 
most especially to pray for the King's most excellent Ma- 
jesty, our Sovereign Lord Charles, King of England, Scot- 
land, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and Su- 
preme Governor in these realms, over all persons, in all 
causes, as well ecclesiastical as temporal." At these words 
the more rigid Presbyterians took great offence, and cau- 
tioned Mr Crosby to be more wary in future how he ex- 
pressed himself as to the spiritual power of the King, be- 
cause they acknowledged no head of the Church but Jesus 
Christ himself. But in this objection they mistook the 
matter ; for the words of the prayer ascribe no more autho- 
rity to the King than God himself gave to the Kings of 
Judah and Israel (bad men though some of these were), or 

' Boscobel (Bohn's extra volume), p. 484. 



I 



AUGUST 1651. 219 

than the Christian Church from the beginning gave to Em- 
perors and Princes ; and not nearly so much as the Presby- 
terian Kirk itself then gave, and still gives, to the Civil 
Magistrate.! 

On the 26th, agreeable to the tenor of the foregoing 
manifesto, about thirty English noblemen and gentlemen 
assembled at Pitchcroft, near Worcester; among whom 
were Lord Talbot (afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury), Sir 
Walter Blount, Sir John Packington, Sir Ralf Clare, &c., 
bringing with them about 200 horse. This was but a poor 
accession to the royal army, and proved that England was 
far from being yet hearty in the cause of her lawful King. 
Some of these were Roman Catholics, on whom the more 
rigid Presbyterians looked with ill-suppressed indignation ; 
but their position was now so critical, that they could not 
with decency refuse to accept their assistance. 

The 27th was kept as a solemn fast, and next day a 
general muster was made of all the troops belonging to the 
royal army. They were computed at no more than about 
10,000 Scots and 2000 English. Here his Majesty was 
waited on by the celebrated Dr Henry Hammond, who had 
been residing at Sir John Packington's in that neighbour- 
hood, and received from him, under his own handwriting, 
a declaration of his unshaken adherence to the Church of 
England. This declaration, that divine had been the more 
induced to solicit, on account of the rumours that were 
afloat respecting the Covenant. 

Meanwhile Cromwell and his troops, amounting to more 
than double the number of the royalists, were pouring into 
the neighbourhood of Worcester from all quarters. Be- 
sides fortifying Worcester as well as their limited time per- 
mitted, the Scots had also fortified the suburb of St John, 
on the west of the city, and had erected a fort, which they 
called Fort Royal, on the east. They had also secured a 
bridge which crossed the Severn, seven miles below Wor- 
cester, called Upton Bridge, and placed General Massey 
to defend it. 

This bridge, the English, under General Fleetwood, with 

^ Confession of Faith, chap, xxiii. — See p. 168 of this History. 



220 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

a superior force, attacked on the 29th and captured ; 
Massey being wounded, and compelled, with as many more 
as he could save, to fall back upon Worcester. Fleetwood 
marched next day to Powick, a village on the small river 
Teme, the bridge of which had been secured by the Scots, 
and was now defended by General Montgomery and Colonel 
George Keith. At this very bridge, in 1642, the brave 
Prince Rupert, with 500 Cavaliers, who had not time to 
put on their armour, defeated Colonel Sandys, who head- 
ed double that number of Roundhead cavalry cased in steel. 
But the fortune of war was now reversed. 

Cromwell in person had taken up a position at Red-Hill, 
which is half-a-mile east of the city, and was erecting there 
a battery of guns, opposite the Scots garrison at Fort- 
Royal. The King's forces in the city determined upon in- 
terrupting him in this work ; and accordingly, on the night 
of the 1st September, General Middleton and Colonel Sir 
William Keith with J 400 foot, wearing their shirts over 
their armour as a mark of distinction, suddenly sallied out 
upon Cromwell, drove him from his guns, and obtained a 
momentary possession of them ; but their ammunition being 
spent, and Lesley's horse not coming up to their support 
as they should have done, and the enemy with fresh troops 
beginning to rally, they were compelled to retreat with 
severe loss into the city. One cause of this failure was, 
that a tailor in the town, of the name of Gives or Guyes, 
had sent secret intelhgence to Cromwell of the intention to 
attack him on the night in question, informing him at the 
same time of the distinguishing dress to be worn by the 
assailants. This was discovered next morning, and the 
tailor hanged or shot for his treachery ; but the English 
Parliament, to mark their sense of how much they owed to 
the traitor, subsequently settled d^200 a year upon his 
widow. As soon as Cromwell had thus repulsed the as- 
sault made upon him, he took Fort-Royal, of which the 
fortifications were incomplete, put its garrison consisting 
of 1500 men to the sword, and turned its guns upon the 
retreating royalists. 

On the morning of Wednesday the Sd September (the 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 221 

anniversary of the battle of Dunbar), the King held a 
council of war on the top of the Cathedral, from which 
could be seen all that was going on in the surrounding 
country. It was then perceived that Fleetwood, whom we 
left at Powick, was making preparations for forcing the 
bridge at that village, and that Cromwell was bringing up 
a strong detachment of men from Eed-Hill to assist him. 
Conceiving it to be of the utmost importance to protect 
this bridge, the King went down in person with a body of 
troops to inspect and strengthen its defences. Cromwell 
was at this time crossing the Severn by a bridge of boats, 
at a place called Bunshill, and soon made good his passage, 
in spite of a stout opposition from Colonel Pitscottie and 
300 Highlanders, who were compelled to retreat. After 
the King had left Powick, the united Parliamentary forces 
attacked the defenders of the bridge, and carried it ; tak- 
ing Colonel Keith prisoner, and obliging Montgomery and 
his men to seek refuge within the walls of the city, after 
bravely defending themselves from hedge to hedge in their 
retreat. Fleetwood then advanced to the suburb of St 
John, which was defended by Major- General Dalzell, whom 
he forced to surrender, and crave quarter. Cromwell, 
meanwhile, having seen Fleetwood across the Teme, ex- 
claimed " The Lord of Hosts be with you ;'" and recrossing 
the Severn, again joined the main army which was now endea- 
vouring to force its way to the city by different approaches. 
After the King had returned to Worcester, observing 
Cromwell at Perrywood, about a mile from the city, pre- 
paring to storm it ; he, and the Dukes of Hamilton and 
Buckingham, Lord Grrandison, Sir Alexander Forbes, and 
others, with a strong detachment of infantry, but with few 
horse, sallied out at the Sudbury gate to attack the enemy. 
The sally was made with so much steadiness and vigour 
that they drove him back, and captured some of his guns. 
But here, unhappily, Lesley again deceived his own people, 
by not coming up in time with the cavalry to their assis- 
tance. The result was, that the Duke of Hamilton was 
severely wounded, and obliged to be carried into the city ; 
and though his wounds were carefully dressed, first by the 



222 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

King's, and after the battle, by Cromweirs surgeon, yet he 
died on the 1 Ith of this month, in the 35th year of his age, 
and was buried in Worcester Cathedral. In the same ac- 
tion. Sir John Douglas was mortally wounded. The rest 
of the troops, broken and disordered, retreated into the 
town. The King himself had one or two horses shot under 
him, and aided by Sir Alexander Forbes, had no small 
difl&culty in finding his way back to the city on foot. As 
to this Sir Alexander, I find the following account of him : 
" He commanded a troop of horse raised by himself; and 
when the King's horse was shot under him, he defended 
him by his troop ; and (while General Lesley seemed un- 
concerned, with his cloak mufiled up to his chin, and be- 
held the rout of the King's troops), he kept the enemy at 
bay^ mounted the King on his own horse, put a soldier's 
coat and a bloody handkerchief about him, and sending him 
safe off the field, he kept the enemy still engaged, till he was 
shot through both the calves of the legs. He lay among the 
dead till next day (some say longer) when, being observed 
to have life, he was taken care of by a lady in the neigh- 
bourhood, who ventured to shew him that kindness. The 
story of that lady's falling in love with him, and his con- 
cealing his being a married man till he was recovered, per- 
haps is fanciful."! 

The royalist sally having been thus repulsed, Cromwell 
was not long in effecting his ulterior object ; and as the 
royalists, in their retreat outside the walls, had to fight 
their way from hedge to hedge, so now they had equally to 
fight from street to street, inside the walls. In the Friars 
Street, his Majesty put off his armour, which was heavy 
and troublesome to him, and took a fresh horse ; and then, 
perceiving many of his foot soldiers beginning to throw 
down their arms, and decline fighting, he rode up and down 
among them, with his hat in his hand, entreating them to 
stand to their arms and fight like men ; at another time, he 
encouraged them, by reminding them of the goodness and 
justice of the cause they fought for ; but, seeing himself not 

1 Aberdeen and Banff Collections, Spalding Club, p. 33 L What these 
concluding words refer to, I know not. 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 223 

able to prevail, he added, " I had rather you would shoot 
me, than keep me alive to see the sad consequences of this 
fatal day."^ The Earl of Rothes and Sir William Hamil- 
ton defended themselves with great courage on the Castle- 
hill, till they obtained conditions of surrender. Another 
party at the town hall, fought desperately for some hours, 
till most of them were killed or wounded. This resistance, 
together with the darkness of the night, and the desire of 
plunder, so far checked the advance of the enemy, that his 
Majesty, who had behaved with the utmost gallantry, but 
in vain attempted to grapple with such an overwhelming 
force, was enabled, when he saw that every thing was lost, 
to adopt measures for his personal safety. He returned 
with all speed to the house where he had been quartered, 
and took such of his treasures as he could conveniently 
carry with him ; and just as the parliamentary Colonel 
Cibber was entering the front door, he and Lord Wilmot 
escaped by a back door, and striking into the most unfre- 
quented lanes, rejoined General Lesley and about 3000 of 
his horse, with whom they got out of the city by St Mar- 
tin's gate, at six o'clock in the evening.^ 

Cromwell, writing of this battle, says, " Indeed this hath 
been a glorious mercy, and as stiff a contest for four or five 
hours as I have ever seen ;" and again, *' Indeed it was a 
stiff business, I do not think we have lost 200 men. The 
dimensions of this mercy are above my thoughts. It is, for 
aught I know, a crowning mercy. Surely, if it be not, such 
a one we shall have, if this provoke those that are concerned 
in it to thankfulness, and the parliament to do the will of 
him who hath done his will for it and for the nation ; whose 
good pleasure it is to establish the nation, and the change 
of the government, &c.," — so anxious was he to interpret 
his present success into Heaven's approval of his conduct 
in overthrowing the monarchy ! His actual loss was esti- 
mated at 500 regular troops, and 600 militia ; while that of 

1 Boscobel, p. 490. 

2 Garendon's account of the battle of Worcester, as well as of the King's 
subsequent adventures, is extremely inaccurate. In fact, there is no one ac- 
count that can be relied upon. It is only by comparing carefully all of them 
together, that a complete and connected narrative can be made out. 



224 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

the Scots, and their English supporters, was 15 colonels of 
horse, 21 of foot, 19 majors, 33 captains of horse, 72 of 
foot, 89 lieutenants, 96 cornets, 99 ensigns, 90 quarter -mas- 
ters, 80 of the King's servants, nearly 3000 killed, and 
about double that number of prisoners ! In fact, scarcely 
any of the foot escaped, as they were enclosed in the streets 
of the town, and hemmed in on all sides by a numerous 
enemy. These, having been driven on the road to London, 
before the conqueror, like so many sheep, were in the end, 
like their ill-fated comrades at Dunbar, shipped to America, 
and sold to work as slaves in the plantations. To some of 
his personal friends Cromwell made a present of a Scots 
horse, and two Scots prisoners, the latter doubtless de- 
signed to be used as slaves, and to be as much subject to 
the orders of their master as the horse itself. " The horse 
he gavd me," says Whitelock, " was a gallant young nag of 
Sir John Fenwick's breed. One of the Scots prisoners he 
gave me, seemed to be a gentleman of good quality, and he 
was of very good parts. I freely gave him his liberty, and 
the other likewise, and gave them their passes to go to their 
own homes,'' 

Of the higher class of officers, who were made prisoners 
at Worcester, were Lords Kelly, Oleaveland, Cranston, 
Carnwath, Rothes, Spynie, Grandison.^ Kenmuir, and Sin- 
clair ; Sir John Packington, Sir Charles Cunningham, and 
Mr (afterwards Sir Robert) Fanshawe, the King's Secre- 
tary ; General Wandross, and Colonel Pitscottie. General 
Massey was wounded and taken, but subsequently escaped 
from the Tower ; as did General Middleton, who went into 
France, from whence he afterwards returned to Scotland 
in 1654, and headed an insurrection of royalists. The two 
last mentioned were particularly obnoxious to Cromwell, 
who had actually named a day for their trial and execution, 
before which time, the stratagems of their friends, to his great 
mortification, succeeded in rescuing them out of his hands. 
General Montgoniery and Sir James Turner were also 
taken, but escaped. Finally, Colonel Legge, the ancestor 

1 Lord Grandison translated some of St Chrysostome's writings while in 
the Tower of London, and published them in 1654. 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 225 

©f the Dartmouth family, commonly called " Honest Will 
Legge,'** was made prisoner, but escaped from Coventry 
gaol, by changing clothes with liis wife, who had been per- 
mitted to visit him. 

Some writers have, ignorantly or malevolently, accused 
Charles of a base intention, seeing the desperate condition 
of his army at Worcester, of privately escaping to Scotland 
with his cavalry, leaving the infantry to their fate. Others 
again have asserted that he was in bed and asleep, during 
the hottest of the siege. I can find no authority for such 
accusations, and certainly they are wholly irreconcileable 
with all the contemporary accounts we have of his courage 
and enterprize. 

General Lesley, as I have said, escaped from Worcester 
with 3000 horse ; accompanied by the King, the Duke of 
Buckingham, the Lords Derby, Lauderdale, Leviston, Tal- 
bot, and Wilmot, Colonel Blague, Mr Darcey, and others. 
Before reaching Barbon's Bridge, which is about half-a- 
mile out of Worcester, they made several stands, and en- 
deavoured to repel the pursuing enemy. But at the bridge, 
a consultation was held ; and perceiving many of the 
troopers throwing off their arms and shifting for them- 
selves, they were unanimously of opinion that the day was 
irrecoverably lost, and that all they had now to do was to 
save the King and themselves. " We had (says the King 
himself, in the narrative which he dictated to Pepys) such 
a number of veteran men with us, of the horse, that I strove, 
as soon as it was dark, to get from them ; and though I 
could not get them to stand by me against the enem}^ I 
could not get rid of them, now T had a mind to it." And 
again, " Some of the people of quality who were with me 
were very earnest that I should go to Lesley, and endea- 
vour to go into Scotland ; which I thought was absolutely 
impossible ; knowing very well that the country would all 
rise upon us, and that men who had deserted me when they 
were in good order, would never stand to me when they 
had been beaten.*" ^ 

When it grew dark, Charles, and about sixty of his fol- 
1 Boscobel, p. 457. 

15 



226 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II, 

lowers, who were all, or the greater part of them, noble- 
men and gentlemen, struck off the high road ; the latter 
intending to rejoin Lesley, and go with him into Scotland, 
as the best thing they could do, as soon as they should see 
the King safe. When they came to Kinvearn Heath, near 
Kidderminster, the King stopped and consulted with his 
attendants where they might obtain a few hours rest and 
some food, which they all greatly needed after their recent 
fatigues. The Earl of Derby told him that, in his flight 
from Wigan to Worcester, he had met with an honest 
man, and a safe place of concealment at Boscobel House, 
in that neighbourhood ; which, belonging to Roman Catho- 
lics, who had been subjected to searches for their priests in 
times of persecution, contained hiding places where a few 
persons might be concealed for a time, without risk of dis- 
covery. The proposal to betake themselves to this retired 
mansion seemed so feasible, that the King immediately 
agreed to it ; and as it happened that the proprietor, Mr 
Gifford, was among the fugitives from Worcester, and then 
one of his Majesty^s followers, he was summoned, and most 
readily undertook to guide the party to his abode, and do 
the utmost in his power for their concealment and accom- 
ntodation. At this time, they were near Stourbridge ; and 
having to pass through it, they all agreed, if they had occa- 
sion to speak, to speak French only, in order to prevent dis- 
covery. This was doubtless the town of which the King 
himself speaks, in the account which he afterwards gave to 
Pepys : " We rode very quietly through the town ; they (the 
enemy) having nobody to watch, nor suspecting us any more 
than we did them, which I aftervA'ards learnt from a coun- 
try-fellow.'' 

Though Mr Gifford had at first intended to take his 
Majesty to Boscobel, it occurred to him afterwards that it 
would be more prudent, on some accounts, to carry him to 
a house called " White- Ladies," within half-a-mile of Bos- 
cobel ; so named from its once having been a convent of 
Cistertian Nuns, but which now belonged to a member of 
Mr Gilford's family, and where he himself sometimes re- 
sided. This house was twenty-six miles north from Wor- 



SEPTEMER 1(351. 227 

cester ; and by the time his Majesty and suite had arrived 
there, it was early on Thursday morning. Here they re- 
ceived the repose and refreshment they so much required. ^ 

When Lord Derby had been at Boscobel, as mentioned 
before, he had received assistance, in concealing himself, 
from one William Penderill ; and the first thing he now 
did, after getting some rest, was to send for this man. He 
soon made his appearance, bringing his brother Eichard 
along with him. The latter was immediately sent back to 
his house, in order to bring a suit of his own clothes for 
the King's use. When he returned, Lord Derby took the 
two brothers into a room, and telling them the result of 
the battle of Worcester, and that the King was then in 
the house, desired that as they had a high character for 
loyalty, as well as integrity, so they would be faithful to 
his Majesty, and give him all the help in their power to 
escape from his enemies. Mr Gifford seconding this re- 
quest, the Penderills most readily agreed to do everything 
that might be required of them. 

After this matter had been settled, the King, and those 
who till now had accompanied him, came to the resolution 
to separate, excepting Lord Wilmot, who, it was agreed, 
should be the sole companion of his perils ; not, however, 
to be always vsdth him, but to be near him, under an as- 
sumed name, and ready to do him such services as he 
might need.^ The royal suite then took an affectionate 
leave of their master, and set out to join Lesley and his 
horse, who had preceded them on the road to Scotland. 
But before going, they requested the King not to drop a 
hint to any of them of his future intentions, that in case 
of their being taken, and tortured to confess all they knew, 
they might not have it in their power to divulge anything 
to his disadvantage. Before parting, moreover, the King 

1 See the accompanying Map. 

3 The selection of Lord Wilmot to be the King's companion was a fortu- 
nate one, on the ground that " All's well that ends well ;" and yet there were 
two objections to him ; 1st, he would never wear any disguise, because, he 
said, it made him look frightful ; and, 2d, he was a bad walker, and could do 
nothing without a horse. 



228 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

entrusted to some of them the valuable ornaments which 
he had saved in his flight from Worcester, viz., his order 
of the garter, blue ribbon, and George of diamonds, watch, 
buff'-coat, &c., the greater part, if not all, of which, ulti- 
mately found their way back to him.^ 

These gentlemen having left White-Ladies' House about 
noon on Thursday the 4th of September, were not long in 
overtaking General Lesley ; but soon after, they were 
themselves unfortunately overtaken by a party of the ene- 
my, while another party encountered them in front. The 
greater number were, in consequence, after an ineffectual 
struggle, taken prisoners. The Earl of Derby was tried 
and executed in the following month, for high treason 
against the Parliament of England, on the most iniquitous 
plea of having " held correspondence with Charles Stewart." 
The Earls of Lauderdale and Cleveland, and General Lesley, 
were imprisoned in the Tower of London, where they were 
kept till the Restoration. Lauderdale had his life saved 
at the intercession of Lady Dysart, CromwelFs favourite, 
and afterwards married his fair deliverer. The Duke of 
Buckingham, and Lords Talbot and Leviston were fortu- 
nate enough to get away from .the scene of action, and in 
the end found means to reach the continent in safety.^ 

Before parting with Lesley, I will here give an anecdote 
of him, which is told in a work, of which only sixty copies 

1 The history of the George of diamonds (a glory or star of silver, having 
a St George's cross embroidered within a garter) is rather a curious one. 
This was committed to the care of Colonel Blague, who, with the privity of a 
Mr and Mrs Barlow, at a place near Stafford, hid it under a heap of rubbish. 
The Colonel himself was afterwards taken and lodged in the Tower ; but the 
Barlows committed the " George,'" for greater security, to a Mr Milward of 
Stafford ; and he entrusted it to the celebrated Isaak Walton, who carried it 
privately to Colonel Blague while he was in the Tower. The Colonel was so 
fortunate as to make his escape soon after, and had the satisfaction of restor- 
ing it to the King in person. This Colonel Blague was the father of Mrs 
Godolphin, whose interesting Memoirs have been lately edited by Bishop 
Wilberforce. 

1 may here add, that the King lost " a collar of SS." at Worcester, which 
a Major Cobbet found in the house he had occupied in that town, and after- 
wards presented it to the English Parliament. 

2 The Duke of Buckingham appears to have gone into Scotland to try and 
stir up the royalists in that quarter, but without effect. He afterwards mar- 
ried the daughter of the Parliamentary General Fairfax. 



SEPTEMBER 1651 229 

were printed, entitled, " Historical Fragments relative to 
Scottish affairs, 1635-1664."^ After he had been some 
time in the Tower of London, " he was brought before the 
Parliament of England, and declared he had several times 
offered to deliver up the King to Cromwell, but he refused. 
Cromwell answered, ' That it was true he had offered to 
sell his King to him ; but he did defye him, or any officer 
or souldier, English or Scots, that could say he had slip- 
ped any opportunity of taking him in the feilds ; but he 
scorned to buy any man with money ; and for thee, David 
Lesley,' said he, ' Thou art a traitor ;' at which words D. 
Lesley burst furth in tears, when said Cromwell, ' Is that 
a man fitt to lead and command an army V I give this 
anecdote as I find it, without being able to vouch for its 
authenticity. There is a mystery about Lesley's equivo- 
cal, if not treacherous conduct, and the King's favourable 
treatment of him, which I cannot clear up. It is well 
known that, after the Restoration, in order to refute the 
reports which w^ere circulated against him, he asked and 
obtained from the King, a letter expressive of his Majesty's 
confidence in him ; but the letter was so cautiously worded, 
that it seemed rather intended to conceal, than to indicate, 
the royal author's real opinion of the general. 

Let us here glance, before we return to the King, at the 
treatment of one of the Worcester prisoners in London, 
and the noble behaviour of his wife ; which I am the more 
induced to do, as history furnishes us with so very few par- 
ticulars of this interesting event, and as the narrative 
is singularly affecting and beautiful in itself. " I went," 
says Lady Fanshawe (in her " Memoirs," addressed to her 
son, p. 113, &;c.) " with my brother Fanshawe to Ware 
Park, and my sister went to Ball's to my father, both in- 
tending to meet in the winter ; and so, indeed, we did with 
tears ; for the 3d of September following was fought the 
battle of Worcester, when, the King being missed, and 
nothing heard of your father being dead or alive, for three 
days, it was inexpressible what affliction I was in. I 
neither eat nor slept, but trembled at every motion I 

^ Edited by James Maidment, Esq. Edin., T. G. Stevenson, 1 833. 



280 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

heard, expecting the fatal news which at last came in their 
news-book, which mentioned your father a prisoner. 

" Then, with some hopes, I went to London, intending 
to leave my little girl Nan, the companion of my troubles, 
there, and so find out my husband wheresoever he was car- 
ried. But on my coming to London, I met a messenger 
from him with a letter which advised me of his condition, 
and told me he was civilly used, and said little more, but 
that I should be in some room in Charing Cross, where he 
had promise from his keeper, that he should rest there in 
my company at dinner time. This was meant to him as a 
great favour. I expected him with impatience ; and on 
the day appointed, provided the dinner and room as or- 
dered, in which I was with my father and some of our 
friends ; where, about eleven of the clock, we saw hundreds 
of poor soldiers, both English and Scotch, marched all 
naked on foot,^ and many with your father, who was very 
cheerful in appearance, who, after he had spoken and 
saluted me and his friends there, said, ' Pray let us not 
lose time, for I know not how little I have to spare. This 
is the chance of war, nothing venture nothing have, so let 
us sit down and be merry whilst we may.' Then taking 
my hand in his, and kissing me, ' Cease weeping, no other 
thing upon earth can move me ; remember we are all at 
God's disposal.' Then he began to tell how kind his cap- 
tain was to him, &c. Thus we passed the time, until order 
came to carry him to Whitehall, where, in a little room 
yet standing in the bowling green, he was kept prisoner, 
without speech of any, so far as they knew, two weeks, and 
in expectation of death. They after examined him ; and 
at last he grew so ill in health, by the cold and hard 
marches he had undergone, and being pent up in a room 
close and small, that the scurvy brought him almost to 
death's door. 

" During the time of his imprisonment, I failed not con- 
stantly to go, when the clock struck four in the morning, 
with a dark lantern in my hand, all alone and on foot, from 

1 " They were driven like cattle into Tothill fields, and there sold to the 
London merchants, to be sent as slaves to Barbadocs." 



SEPTEMBER 1G.51. 231 

my lodging in Chancery Lane at my cousin Young's, to 
Whitehall, in at the entry that went out of King Street 
into the bowling green. There I would go under his win- 
dow, and softly call him. He, after the first time excepted, 
never failed to put out his head at the first call. Then we 
talked together, and sometimes I was so wet with the rain, 
that it went in at my neck and out at my heels. He di- 
rected me how I should write my addresses, which I did 
ever to their General Cromwell, who had a great respect 
for your father, and would have bought him off to his ser- 
vice upon any terms. 

" Being one day to solicit for my husband's liberty for a 
time, he bid me bring, the next day, a certificate from a 
physician that he was really ill. Immediately I went to 
Dr Batters, that was by chance both physician to Crom- 
well and to our family, who gave me one very favourable in 
my husband's behalf. I delivered it at the Council Cham- 
ber, at three of the clock that afternoon, as he commanded 
me ; and he himself moved, ' that seeing they could make 
RO use of his imprisonment, whereby to lighten them in 
their business, he might have his liberty upon £4<()00 bail, 
to take a course of physic, he being dangerously ill.' Many 
spoke against it, but most Sir Henry Vane, who said he 
would be instrumental, for aught he knew, to hang all 
them that sat there, if ever he had opportunity ; but if he 
ims to have liberty for a time, that he might take the 
Engagement^ before he went out : upon which Cromwell 
said, ' I never knew that the Engagement was a medicine 
for the scorbutic' They hearing their general say so, 
thought it obliged him, and so ordered him his liberty upon 
bail. His eldest brother, and sister Bedell, and self, were 
bound to ^4000 ; and the latter end of November, he 
came to my lodgings at my cousin Young's. He there 
met many of his good friends and kindred, and my joy was 

^ This was a document expressing approbation of all the Parliament had 
recently done, including the murder of the King, and containing an oath of 
allegiance to itself. The Presbytei'ians had turned the Royalists out of their 
seats in 1643-4, by foi'cing upon them their Covenant ; and now the Inde- 
pendents turned out the Presbyterians, by forcing upon them this Engage- 
ment. Such is the downward tendency of revolutionary measures — and such 
are the instruments which Pi'ovidence employs to punish the rebellious. 



232 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IK 

inexpressible, and so was poor Nan's, of whom your poor 
father was very fond. I forgot to tell you, that when your 
father was taken prisoner of war, he, before they entered 
the house where he was, burned all his papers, which saved 
the lives and estates of many a brave gentleman." 

We must now return to the King, whom we left at 
White-Ladies, under the care of Mr Gifford and the two 
brothers Penderill. And here, it is necessary to state, that 
there were five brothers of this name, who all lived in the 
same neighbourhood, men of inferior condition in life, but 
very trustworthy, and Koman Catholics by religion. They 
had all been born at Hobbel Grange, in the parish of Tong, 
in which they still resided ; and though they were all ad- 
mitted into the secret of the King's presence among them^ 
and knew that a large reward would be given for his appre- 
hension, yet they never once swerved from their fidelity. 
William and his wife lived in Boscobel House, and had the 
charge of it ; Richard and his mother rented a part of Hob- 
bel Grange ; John was forester on the White-Ladies pro- 
perty ; Humphrey was the miller of the same place ; and 
George was a servant in the house, at the time the King 
and Lord Wilmot came to it. 

After the King had put on the suit of clothes belonging 
to Richard Penderill, he caused his own to be buried in a 
dunghill ; in doing which, the greatest haste was requisite,. 
for the Penderills had learnt that a party of CromwelFs 
horse, under Colonel Ashenhurst, was quartered at Cot shill, 
only three miles distant ; and some of whom actually came to 
White-Ladies, to search for Cavaliers, within half an hour 
after the King had quitted it. Richard now took the King 
out of the house, and by a private path led him into a wood 
belonging to Boscobel, called Spring Coppice; whilst his 
brothers, George and Humphrey, kept a careful look-out, 
that they might bring his Majesty tidings of any thing 
which concerned him. 

Charles's intention at this time was, if possible, to reach 
London ; but he had not entrusted this intention to any 
one but Lord Wilmot, who was to meet him at a particular 
house that liad been agreed upon, viz. at the sign of " the 



SEPTEMBER 165T. 233 

Three Cranes in the Vintry." Circumstances, however, oc- 
curred to alter this plan. Wilmot, meantime, was under 
the care of John Penderill, who, after some narrow escapes, 
introduced him to Mr Huddleston, a Eomish priest, who 
took him safely to the house of a brother-religionist, a Mr 
Whitgreave, in this neighbourhood, where we shall hear of 
him again in a short time. 

The Penderills effectually guarded the l^ing in Boscobel 
wood during the whole of Thursday, which they were bet- 
ter able to do, as it rained heavily at that place, the rain 
preventing the enemy from coming in search of fugitives. 
In the course of the day, a company of militia passed along 
the skirt of the wood, near enough for the King to see them, 
but yet so as not to be discovered by them. 

Towards evening, Richard went to the house of his sister- 
in-law, the " Good-wife of Yates," who lived hard by, and 
procured a blanket for the King's use ; and, at the same 
time, he desired her to prepare and carry some food for his 
Majesty. She presently made ready a mess of milk, bread, 
butter, and eggs, which she took to him herself. The 
King was surprised to see a stranger woman approaching 
him, and accosted her by saying, " Good woman, can you 
be faithful to a distressed Cavalier T " Yes, Sir," she re- 
plied, " I will rather die than discover you." She then told 
him who she was, and Charles gladly partook of what she 
had brought. It was in this wood, and while consulting 
with Richard Penderill, that Charles changed his intention 
of going to London, and determined to go into Wales, 
whither Richard undertook to guide him ; and where he 
knew several trustworthy gentlemen, by whose help he 
hoped to reach one of the sea-ports which carried on a trade 
with France, and thus make his escape to that country. 

When it drew dark on Thursday night, his Majesty and 
Richard Penderill quitted the wood, but before setting out 
on their journey for Wales, they called at Richard's house, 
at Hobbel Grange, where his mother lived, who was thus 
gratified by a sight of the King, as well as by seeing her 
own son engaged in his service. After kissing his hand, 
she fell on her knees, and thanked God for having made 



234 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

a child of her's instrumental in protecting his Sovereign. 
What a contrast between this poor woman's devoted loyalty, 
and the great CromwelFs unprovoked rebellion against 
his lawful King ! Here Charles made his disguise more 
complete than it had been before, and assumed the name 
of William Jones. After taking some refreshment, they set 
off at nine o'clock the same night, intending to go to Ma- 
deley, which is about six miles from White- Ladies, and with- 
in a mile of the river Severn. They were the more induced 
to go there, because a Mr Wolf, a royalist, and a friend of 
Richard's, lived in that town. 

Before midnight, as they were crossing the bridge at 
Evelyn Mill, they heard voices inside the adjoining house, 
and though dark, they could distinguish the figure of the 
miller in his white dress standing at the door. The latter 
called out, " Who goes there ?" " Neighbours going home," 
i-eturned Richard ; whereupon the miller replied, " if you 
be neighbours stand, or I will come and knock you down." 
It turned out afterwards that both the miller and his in- 
mates were royalists, and that he took the two travellers 
for rebels ; but Richard, thinking they might be enemies, 
and not wishing to come into collision with them, ran off, and 
told the King to follow him. He then ran up a dirty lane, 
the King keeping as close as possible behind him. The way 
was very rough, and Charles's shoes being thin, his feet were 
severely galled by the stones ; and the night was so dark, 
that, but for the rustling of Richard's calf- skin breeches, 
he would have been at a loss to know in what direction his 
guide was leading him. At length, they got over a hedge, 
and lay behind it to listen for a few minutes if they were 
pursued ; but not hearing any one, they proceeded on their 
journey till they reached Madeley. 

It was one in the morning before they came to Mr Wolf's 
house. This man, like the Penderills, was a Romanist, as 
well as a royalist, and had been accustomed to hide the 
priests of his church in certain concealed parts of his house, 
during the times of persecution. Charles was unwilling to 
go up to the door, till he should first learn whether Wolf 
would be disposed to admit so dangerous a guest as himself, 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 235 

and therefore withdrew to a little distance till this point 
were ascertained. Richard knocked at the door. The 
family were all in bed ; but after waiting some time^ and 
knocking more than once, Miss Wolf came and enquired 
who was there ? Richard told her who he was ; and when 
admitted, he desired her to ask her father if he would har- 
bour, only for a day, an unfortunate Cavalier, who had ifled 
from Worcester, and could not venture to travel excepting 
by night. When this request was made known to Mr 
Wolf, he got up and told Richard that it was so dangerous 
to harbour any of the Cavaliers^ that, for his part, he would 
not venture his neck for any of them, unless it were for the 
King himself. Upon this, Richard informed him that it 
really was the King who implored his protection. Mr 
Wolf was not a little surprised, and yet glad to hear he had 
escaped from his enemies ; adding, that he would do every 
thing in his power for his preservation. This was imme- 
diately communicated to the King, who was admitted into 
the house by a back way, and introduced to Mr Wolf. This 
gentlemen received his Majesty with all becoming reverence, 
telling him, that while he was happy he had escaped from 
those who sought his life, he regretted to see him in that 
painful condition ; and the more, because the whole of that 
neighbourhood, and especially the ferries and bridges of the 
Severn, were so strictly guarded by the parliamentary 
troops, that he could not cross that river without great 
risk of discovery ; and, as to the hiding holes of his house, 
they were all now so well known, that he could not venture 
to put him into any of them ; and therefore the safest plan, 
he thought, would be for him to lie hid for the present 
under some loose hay in one of his barns, wrapt up in 
blankets. This being agreed upon, and Charles having got 
some refreshment, his feet washed, and a change of stock- 
ings and linen, he retired to the barn,, where he soon fell 
asleep, and lay concealed the whole of the following day. 

In the course of that day, he and Richard and Mr Wolf 
had several conversations together on the subject in which 
they all felt most interested ; and learning how hopeless 
it would be to venture across the Severn, they agreed 



236 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

that it would be best for the King and his companion 
to return that night to Boscobel. There the King hoped 
to hear some tidings of his friend Lord Wilmot, and to 
consult with him what plan ought to be followed. Ac- 
cordingly, having got some additional refreshment, and 
browned his face and hands, by washing them in walnut 
leaf water, he and Eichard left Madeley at 11 o''clock at 
night, after taking leave of their host, and set out on their 
journey back again. 

When they got near the Evelyn Mill, having no mind to 
be questioned a second time by the miller, they resolved to 
get across the stream as well as they could, instead of going 
by the bridge ; but being doubtful of its depth, and Richard 
unable to swim, the King, who could swim, went into the 
water first, and finding the deepest part no more than four 
feet, Eichard followed him, and they were soon safe across, 
though very uncomfortably wet. 

They arrived at Boscobel wood about three or four o'clock 
the next morning, being Saturday the 6th of the month. 
There Eichard left the King, that he might go into the 
house to get what information he could concerning both 
friends and foes. He then learned that John Penderill, 
with the aid of Mr Huddleston, already mentioned, had con- 
ducted Lord Wilmot, after encountering some risks, to the 
house of Mr Whitgrave at Mosely, near Wolverhampton, 
where, for the present, he was in safety. This Huddleston 
was chaplain in Mr Whitgrave's family, and tutor to his 
three sons. Lord Wilmot's horse had been securely depo- 
sited at the house of Colonel Lane (of whom we shall have 
more in the sequel) at Bentley, four miles from Mosely. 
Besides getting this information, Eichard found, in Bosco- 
bel House, a Major Carlis, a native of that neighbourhood, 
a Eomanist too, and well acquainted with those of the same 
persuasion in the counties of Worcester and Stafford. 
He also was a fugitive from Worcester, and had served 
there under the King, with whom he was partially acquaint- 
ed. Eichard, knowing that this gentleman was trustworthy, 
and thinking he might be of service, did not scruple to tell 
him that his Majesty was in the adjacent wood, and offered 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 23^ 

to conduct him thither, a proposal to which he was too 
happy to consent. Accordingly, he and Richard, and two 
of his brothers, went into the wood, where they found the 
King sitting upon the root of a tree. After mutual recog- 
nitions and explanations, they took Charles back with them 
to the house, and provided him with every comfort which 
their means permitted. They gave him a substantial meal 
of bread and cheese, and a drink of warm milk and beer, 
washed his feet, which were both sore and dirty, and fur- 
nished him with a pair of clean worsted stockings ; and as 
they could find no shoes that would fit him so well as his 
own, they got these well dried and cleaned before he put 
them on again. 

As the day was now beginning to dawn, and it was 
thought unsafe for the King to remain any longer where he 
was, they all returned to the wood, where Oarlis proposed 
to the King to get up with him into a lofty oak tree, which 
had been lopped some years before, and was now grown 
thick and bushy, in which they might conceal themselves 
without much risk of being discovered. This plan being 
approved of, the Penderills assisted the King and Oarlis in 
climbing the tree ; and having supplied them with provi- 
sions, left them to pass the day there. They had also pro- 
vided his Majesty with a cushion to sit upon, with the aid 
of which, and by leaning his head on the Major's knees, he 
obtained some hours sleep. When awake, they saw some 
of the parliamentary soldiers searching the wood for Scots 
fugitives, and even overheard them saying what they would 
do with the King if they found him. This tree was long 
afterwards known by the name of " the Royal Oak."''' Mul- 
titudes of persons from all parts went to visit it, and cut 
off so many branches and twigs from it as relics, that its 
proprietor was forced at last to place a lofty fence around 
it for its preservation. Even long after the Revolution, 
oak leaves were worn by many on the 29th of May (the an- 
niversary of the King's birth-day, and of the Restoration), 
to the great annoyance of the new dynasty, which resorted 
to fine and imprisonment, and even scourging, in order to 
suppress these tendencies to Jacobitism 



288 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

On the day the King and his companion were concealed 
in the oak tree, Humphrey Penderill went to Shefnal to 
pay some taxes to one Captain Broadway, a government 
collector, at whose house he met with a Colonel of the 
parliamentary army, who had come from Worcester ex- 
pressly in pursuit of the King. This Colonel, having heard 
that his Majesty had been seen at or near White-Ladies, 
and being informed that Humphrey belonged to that neigh- 
bourhood, examined him very closely on the subject, telling 
him of the penalty for concealing the King, and of the great 
reward he would receive for discovering him. But neither 
fear of punishment, nor hope of gain, could tempt Hum- 
phrey into disloyalty. He pleaded ignorance, and was dis- 
missed. 

When night came, the King and his companion descend- 
ed from their tree, and returned to the house, where they 
were entertained by Humphrey's account of what passed 
between himself and the rebel Colonel at Shefnal. But as 
this story shewed the extreme danger the King was in of 
discovery, he desired William Penderill, with a view to 
make his disguise still more perfect, to cut his hair as short 
as possible on the crow^n of his head, but to leave some 
about the ears, which was then the fashion of the peasantry 
in that part of England. William was farther desired to 
burn this hair, but for once he ventured to be disobedient, 
as he kept some locks of it, with which he afterwards gra- 
tified certain royalists, who were anxious to obtain these 
relics of their Sovereign. 

This night, the goodwife of the house, whom the King 
called " my dame Joan,"' provided him with chickens for 
supper, a luxury which he had not enjoyed since he had 
been at Worcester. She then shewed him the secret apart- 
ment in which the Earl of Derby had been concealed, with 
which Charles was so well pleased, though only five feet 
square, that he said he would prefer it to returning to the 
oak tree, where his seat had not been one of the most com- 
fortable. The good woman next furnished him with a pal- 
let to sleep on ; some of the brothers continually watching 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 239 

the approaches to the house, that they might the more ef- 
fectually secure his Majesty in the event of a surprise. 

On Sunday morning, the 7th, Charles rose early, and in 
a gallery which adjoined his secret apartment, he was ob- 
served to spend some time in his private devotions. In 
this gallery there was a window which commanded a view 
of the road between Tong and Brewood, so that in case of 
danger from that quarter, it could be foreseen. The Pen- 
derills and Carlis had contrived to steal a sheep that morn- 
ing from a neighbouring farmer, named Staunton, for his 
Majesty's and their ow^n breakfast. Charles, who under- 
stood the art of cookery better than any of the party, cut 
the mutton into collops with his own hands, and fried them 
with butter in a pan, Carlis assisting and acting under his 
directions. The Penderills afterwards confessed the theft 
to Staunton, and offered to pay him for his sheep ; but he 
generously refused to take any thing, when informed that 
it was for the use of some hungry cavaliers from Worcester. 
A part of this Sunday was passed in reading, in a small 
arbour in the garden of the house, which had a stone table 
in the centre, and a circular seat round it. 

The brothers Penderill were indefatigable in their en- 
deavours to secure the King from discovery while at Bos- 
cobel ; and it pleased God, that though the parliamentary 
soldiers had had intelligence of his being at White-Ladies, 
and had carefully examined that house, yet they never 
thought of coming to Boscobel while he was there, perhaps 
from having been informed that there was only one poor 
family w^ho lived in it. 

The King was now very desirous of meeting with Lord 
Wilmot, who, as has been related, had found shelter at the 
house of Mr Whitgrave, at Mosely, where he had assumed 
the name of Mr Barlows Accordingly on this Sunday, 
John Penderill was sent to Mosely to make inquiry about 
him, to see him if he were still there, and to arrange a 
meeting between him and the King. By this time, how- 
ever, Wilmot had removed to the house of Colonel Lane, 
at Bentley, at the latter's invitation ; but at Mosely John 
found Mr Whitgrave, and the priest Mr Huddleston. 



240 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES 11. 

When he had told them the errand he came upon, they 
both determined to go with him to Bentley, for the purpose 
of seeing Wilmot, and contributing all in their power for 
the King's safety. When they met that lord at Bentley, 
and told him where the King was, and of his desire to see 
him, he appointed to return that very night to Mosely ; 
and desired John to go back and request the King also to 
come there, as being a safer and more convenient place of 
meeting than any other. Mr Huddleston also engaged to 
meet his Majesty at a certain part of the road, called Pit- 
leasow, and to conduct him to the house. 

When John came back and communicated this arrange- 
ment to the King, the latter said he would willingly go to 
Mosely ; but his feet were still so sore from the fatigue of 
his walk to and from Madeley, that he was unable, in his 
then state, to walk so far as five miles, which was the dis- 
tance from Boscobel to Mosely ; and he therefore begged 
John to procure him a horse, if possible, to carry him. 
John knew of only one that he could get, and that was the 
mill-horse belonging to his brother Humphrey ; a poor old 
animal, but yet strong enough to carry the King five miles 
Being then at grass in an adjoining field, it was soon brought 
and accoutred with a saddle and bridle of even a worse de- 
scription than the animal itself. Before the King mount- 
ed. Major Oarlis took leave of him ; for it was thought 
that, as both the person and opinions of this officer were 
well known in that neighbourhood, the King would run 
some risk of discovery, from the mere fact of being seen in 
his company. 

Carlis soon after made his escape to the Continent, and 
was the first to communicate to the Queen-mother the news 
of her son's safety, up to the time he had parted from him. 
After the Restoration, the King conferred upon this officer 
a coat of arms commemorative of the service he had ren- 
dered to him, namely, " an oak in a field, or, with a fesse 
gules, charged with three royal crowns f ' and for a crest, 
" a crown of oak leaves, with a sword and sceptre, crossed 
saltierwise." He also bestowed on him and his descendants 
certain ship dues of the river Thames, which were only 



SEPTEMBER 1G51. 241 

annulled so lately as 1822. Carlis lived till the time of the 
Revolution, his will being dated in 1688. 

Charles set out late on Sunday night on the mill-horse, 
accompanied by all the five Penderills, and Francis Yates 
who was married to their sister. They were all six armed, 
for each carried a good strong stick ; and besides, some 
had pitchforks, and others had loaded pistols in their pock- 
ets. Though the night was dark and rainy, they avoided 
the high road, and kept to lanes and bye-ways for greater 
security. Two of the attendants went on before, two fol- 
lowed at a short distance, and one walked on each side of 
the King, not only to give warning of approaching danger, 
but also that they might be ready to defend him, in case 
of attack. Charles once complained of the horse, that it 
was the heaviest and dullest jade he had ever rode; on 
which its owner, Humphrey, rather cleverly remarked, 
" My liege, no wonder the horse goes heavily, seeing it 
has the weight of three kingdoms on its back."' How- 
ever, neither poor Charles nor the horse had then much 
reason to complain of being encumbered by the weight of 
kingdoms. 

Huddleston the priest (or Father Huddleston, as he 
was commonly called) was ready at the place he had fixed 
on for meeting the King, which was very near Mr Whit- 
grave's house. Here Willia.m, Ceorge, and Humphrey 
Penderill took their leave of his Majesty, and had the pri- 
vilege of kissing his hand ; he thanking them very cordially 
for all they had done for him, and promising to reward 
them as soon as it should be in his power. They then re- 
turned with the horse to Boscobel, while the King and his 
other three attendants, with the priest, walked by a private 
way to Mosely House, where they met its owner, Mr Whit- 
grave, to whom Charles was introduced. Wilmot had come 
to the house two hours before ; and as soon as he was told 
of the King's arrival, he came out to meet him, and kneel- 
ing down, embraced his knees. Charles kissed his cheek, 
and asked him if he had heard anything of Buckingham, 
Cleveland, and the rest ? but of them Wilmot was unable 
to give him the least information. Mr Whitgrave now 

16 



242 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

shewed him his secret chamber, or " priest's hole," to which 
he was to betake himself, in the event of a surprise. 

All this time, Charles was in his coarse clothing; his 
leathern doublet, with pewter buttons ; a pair of old green 
breeches, with long knees, and a short thread-bare coat of 
the same colour; a pair of stirrup stockings, with their 
feet cut off, and darned at the knees, which were given to 
him by Mr Wolf at Madeley ; a pair of shoes, slashed at 
the sides, to give his feet ease ; an old greasy steeple- 
crowned hat, without lining, the brim turned up ; his face 
and gloveless hands being of a tawny colour, from the wal- 
nut leaves he had used in dyeing them. Mr Huddleston, 
observing the coarseness of the King's linen shirt, offered 
him a clean flaxen one, which he was glad to accept ; and 
also gave him a change of shoes and stockings, and a clean 
handkerchief, which were no less acceptable.^ 

Mr Whitgrave had, by this time, brought in some bis- 
cuits and a bottle of sack, of which Charles gladly partook ; 
and when thus refreshed, he remarked, " I am now ready 
for another march ; and if it shall please God once more to 
place me at the head of but eight or ten thousand good 
men, of one mind, and resolved to fight, I shall not doubt 
to drive these rogues out of my kingdoms." 

It was now break of day, on Monday the 8th of Sep- 
tember, and the King was desirous to obtain some rest ; 
for which purpose, a pallet was placed in his secret apart- 
ment, where he went and lay down, but could not sleep 
comfortably, owing to the closeness of the room ; and yet 
he did not venture into one of the open bed-rooms of the 
house, for fear of discovery. 

Before Lord Wilmot retired to rest, he advised that at 
least two of the household, who were in the King's secret, 
should be always on the watch, to give notice of any com- 
ing danger ; adding, that if the rebels should have intelli- 

^ Charles was subject to a bleeding of the nose, and his pocket handkerchief, 
which was as coarse as the rest of his habiliments, was stained with this blood. 
Father Huddleston having given him a new one, took the old one in ex- 
change, which he gave to a kinswoman of his own, a Mrs Bi-athwayte, who 
kept it with great reverence all her life, and used it as a remedy for the King's 
evil ! 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 243 

gence of cavaliers being concealed there, and should any be- 
longing to the house be tortured, in order to obtain a con- 
fession, they were to discover Mm first, which, whatever 
might be the consequence to himself, would probably satisfy 
the enemy, and thus save the King. 

In the course of this day, the King paid his respects to 
Mrs Whitgrave, the aged mother of his host, with whom 
he afterwards held several conversations ; and insisted on 
her sitting at table with him, while Mr Whitgrave and Mr 
Huddleston waited on them. The same day it was deter- 
mined to send John Penderill to Colonel Lane, at Bentley, 
to desire him to send Lord AYilmofs horse for him that 
night, after it was dark. This nobleman, as already men- 
tioned, was a very indifferent walker, which obliged him to 
use his horse, whenever he could do so without risk of dis- 
covery. 

Soon after John was gone, Mr Whitgrave had notice 
brought him, that a party of soldiers (under the com- 
mand of a man called Southall, nick-named the " priest 
catcher'') were on their way to apprehend him, on informa- 
tion that he had fought on the royal side at the battle of 
Worcester. As soon as he heard this, his first care was to 
conceal the King and Wilmot in the secret apartment ; 
and then, leaving all his other rooms open, he went down 
stairs, and boldly met the soldiers. When they first saw 
him, they seemed ready to tear him in pieces, from know- 
ing that he was a Romanist, and from their persuasion of 
his having been at Worcester ; but he confidently assured 
them that, on account of ill health, he had not been absent 
from home for more than a fortnight, appealing to his ser- 
vants for the truth of what he afiirmed. This, after some 
hesitation, satisfied the soldiers, and they withdrew. 

That night, Lord Wilmot having received his horse, went 
to Colonel Lane's house, as had been previously arranged, 
where these two gentlemen talked over certain measures for 
bringing the King to Bentley, and from thence sending him to 
the sea coast, in the manner that will be afterwards related. 

It will shew the narrow escape the King made, if we 
mention here, that some of the parliamentary rebels took 



244 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

prisoner, a day or two before this, a royalist cornet who 
had accompanied the King and his suite to White-Ladies, 
they having found out, by some means, that such was the 
fact. As soon as they made this discovery, they put 
spurs to their horses, and made all the hast^ possible to 
White-Ladies, carrying the terrified cornet along with 
them. They reached that house on the day the King 
was at Mosely, within a few miles of White-Ladies, and 
calling on Mr Gifford, presented a pistol to his breast, and 
ordered him to confess where the King was hid, or he 
should die immediately. Mr Grifford, who possessed as 
much presence of mind as loyalty, told them calmly, that 
all he knew of the matter was, that the morning after the 
battle of Worcester, some hungry cavaliers had come there, 
and demanding provisions, ate them all up and departed ; 
but who they were, and whither they went, he knew not, 
nor had ever made any enquiry. The soldiers were by no 
means satisfied with this answer, but proceeded to search 
every corner of the house most minutely, breaking down 
much of the wainscoting, and damaging the furniture ; and 
at length, after farther questioning Mr Gifford to Httle 
purpose, they took their departure. 

This was not the only danger which Charles at this time 
narrowly escaped ; for the very day after he left Boscobel, 
two parties of the rebels came and searched the house at 
that place. The one party belonged to the country troop^ 
and behaved with civility enough*; but the other, who were 
the regular soldiers, acted with great insolence, ate up the 
little stock of provisions belonging to Wilham Penderill 
and " my dame Joan,'' and carried off with them whatever 
was of any value. Yet both parties returned as ignorant 
as they came of that information they were most anxious 
to obtain. 

On Tuesday, the 9th of the month, his Majesty was at- 
tended chiefly by Father Huddleston, Lord Wilmot being 
at Bentley, and Mr Whitgrave out watching near the 
house. Part of the day he spent in reading a Romish cate- 
chism, which perhaps had been purposely laid in his way ; 
and also a tract, entitled " A Short and Plain way to the 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 245 

Faith and the Church, by Eichard Huddleston, of the or- 
der of St Benedict,'' the uncle of the King's attendant. 
Charles was, moreover, shewn the private oratory or sanc- 
tuary of the family, which he praised much for its neatness ; 
observing, that if he should ever be restored to his throne, 
they should have no farther need for secrecy. Nothing 
could be more natural than for Charles to promise unre- 
strained liberty of conscience to those who were now assist- 
ing in concealing him from his Protestant enemies. In 
truth, it was a disgrace to the bulk of the English nation, 
at this time, that their behaviour to their lawful prince 
should be so strongly contrasted by that of those whose 
religion they hated or despised. And as to liberty of wor- 
ship, it deserves notice, that Charles individually never was, 
at any period of his life, a persecutor ; and if severe mea- 
sures were adopted, after his Restoration, towards some 
denominations of Christians, who had themselves been ex- 
tremely intolerant when in power, it arose from the active 
endeavours of those denominations to overturn both the 
Church and the civil government which had been by law 
established. 

Old Mrs Whitgrave, who was fond of gossiping with 
persons of credulous dispositions, and had been out this 
morning picking up reports in the neighbourhood of Mosely, 
was told by an ignorant countryman, that King Charles, in 
his retreat to Scotland, after Worcester fight, had fallen in 
with, and beaten, the parliamentary troops at Warrington 
bridge, having been there assisted by three kings ! When 
Mrs Whitgrave told this anecdote to Charles he laughed, 
and observed, that, if so, they must have been the three Kings 
of Cologne, who had descended from heaven to help him, for 
he knew of no other who were likely to befriend him in his 
present emergency. 

This was a day of incidents. Charles, while sitting at 
the window of his little cabinet, which overlooked the high 
road, saw several wounded soldiers pass by in their retreat 
from Worcester, two of whom came into the house where 
he was, to beg, and whom he recognised as Highlanders 
who had belonged to his own regiment. They little imagined 



246 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

that their Colonel and their King was within a few yards of 
them. 

Father Huddleston, besides Mr Whitgrave's sons, had 
three other boys under his charge, who were at this time 
with him at Mosely, namely. Sir John Preston (whose late 
father had raised a regiment for Charles I., and lost his 
estate in consequence), Thomas Patyn, and Francis Rey- 
nolds. To enable him to be as much as possible with the 
King (who would otherwise have been alone), Huddleston 
set his pupils at the upper windows of the house, which 
overlooked the various roads in the vicinity, to give him 
timely notice if they saw any troopers, or other suspicious 
persons, approaching. This service the youths, who called 
themselves the stranger s " life-guard,'' performed very faith- 
fully, and were rewarded at night for their trouble by a 
better supper than usual. 

It was on this day, moreover, that Cromwell and his; 
party issued a proclamation for the discovery and appre- 
hension of " Charles Stewart," with a promise of ^E^IOOO 
reward to any that should take him ; and, at the same time, 
they gave strict orders to all officers of sea-port towns to 
be doubly particular in examining the passports and per- 
sons of all who embarked for foreign countries. It seems 
singular that they did not offer a much greater reward for 
apprehending the King, if they were really desirous of get- 
ting possession of him. But it is quite possible that Crom- 
well, now that he had conquered and dispersed his army, 
might secretly desire his escape. He perhaps thought, 
though we have no evidence of it, that the blood of the 
father was enough to lie upon him, without adding to it 
that of the son. 

Lord Wilmot had intimated to the King, through John 
Penderiil, that Colonel Lane was to come that night at 
12 o'clock to Mosely, for the purpose of conducting him 
to Bentley. The Colonel was to be at the orchard of the 
house, and meet Mr Whitgrave there, who should go back 
and bring out the King. All this happened as had been 
settled Charles took an affectionate leave of the family ; 
they assuring him that they would offer up many prayers for 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 247 

his deliverance. Mrs Whitgrave insisted that he should 
accept of some comfits and sweetmeats which she had pre- 
pared for him. Before parting from father Huddleston 
and Mr Whitgrave, he advised them, for their own safety, to 
quit that neighbourhood for a time ; and if they afterwards 
got into any trouble on his account, he recommended them 
to repair to a certain merchant in London, who would fur- 
nish them with the means, if required, of going abroad. 
He then gave them his hand to kiss, and was conducted to 
Colonel Lane, who was waiting for him in the orchard.^ The 
night being cold, Huddleston lent the King his cloak, which 
he afterwards received back from Bentley, where the King 
arrived safely in the course of that night... 

After this time we hear no more of the Penderills, till 
the Restoration; soon after which, some of the brothers 
presented themselves at court, and were very graciously re- 
ceived by his Majesty ; a,nd were rewarded by having cer- 
tain free farms, rents, and annuities, settled on them and 
their heirs for ever. The following is the account trans- 
mitted to us of Richard's reception at Court, who, it will 
be remembered, conducted the King to Madeley, and back 
again to the wood at Boscobel House : — " Friend Richard,' 
said the King, " I am glad to see thee ; thou wert my pre- 
server and conductor, the bright star that shewed me to 
my Bethlehem ; for which kindness I will engrave thy me- 
mory on the tablet of a faithful heart." Then turning to 
the Lords about him, he added, "My Lords, respect this 
good man for my sake." — " Master Richard, be bold, and 
tell these Lords what passed amongst us, when I had quit- 
ted the oak at Boscobel to reach Pit-Leasow." " Your 
Majesty must well remember," replied Richard, " that night 
when brother Humphrey brought his old mill horse from 
White-Ladies, not accoutred with kingly gear, but with a 
pitiful saddle and worse bridle; not attended by royal 
guards, but with half-a-dozen raw and undisciplined rustics, 
who had little else but good will to defend your Majesty 
with ; "'twas then your Majesty mounted, and as we journey- 
ed towards Mosely, your Majesty did most heartily com- 

1 After the Restoration, Mr Whitgrave had £200 a-year settled upon him. 



248 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

plain of the jade you rode on, and said, it was the dullest 
creature you ever met with ; to which my brother Humphrey 
replied, ' My liege, can you blame the horse for going 
heavily, when he has the weight of three kingdoms on his 
back V At which your Majesty grew somewhat lighter, and 
commended brother Humphrey's wit." In like manner did 
this poor peasant entertain Charles and his courtiers, until 
his Majesty thought proper to dismiss him ; but not with- 
out settling a sufficient pension on him for life, on which he 
lived within the vicinity of the Court, until the 8th of Fe- 
bruary 1671 (twenty years after the fatal battle of Wor- 
cester) when he died, much lamented by his Majesty and 
other great personages, whom he had protected from savage- 
barbarity and fanatical persecution. His royal master, to 
perpetuate the memory of this faithful man, out of his 
princely munificence, caused a fair monument to be raised 
over him in the church-yard of St Giles-in-the- fields, near 
about the east end of the church. ^ 

Some of the descendants of these Penderills are said to 
be still living, and in the enjoyment of the rents which were 
settled on their loyal ancestors. 

Before proceeding with our narrative, we must make ano- 
ther brief digression regarding Father Huddleston. It is 
well known that Charles died a Roman Catholic ; and it 
was this very ecclesiastic who reconciled him, as it is term- 
ed, to the Roman Church, when on his deathbed. Having 
been appointed one of the Queen's chaplains, as a reward 
for his services, he was at hand at the fatal hour, and was 
introduced to the King's bed-room, through a private pas- 
sage, disguised as a clergyman of the Church of England, 
in a wig and cassock (for he could not have been legally 
admitted as a Romanist), by the Duke of York, who said 
to the King, " Sir, I bring you a man who once saved 
your life, and he now comes to save your soul." The King 
replied in a faint voice, " He is welcome." The Father 
made him repeat after him, a confession of his sins, and 
then gave him absolution, extreme unction, and the holy 

* Boscobel Tracts, p. 79. 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 249 

communion.^ It is remarkable that James, when abdicat- 
ing his throne three and a half years after, made his escape 
by the same private passage through which he had admitted 
Father Huddleston. 

But to return. Charles was not allowed to remain long 
at Bentley ; for the plan which Lord Wilmot and Colonel 
Lane had arranged was, that he should set out that very 
day on horseback, with the Colonel's sister. Miss Lane 
(according to the usage of the times, called Mrs Lane), on 
a pillion behind him, on their way to Leigh, or Abbotsleigh, 
near Bristol, whithei: the latter was going ostensibly to pay 
a visit to Mrs Norton her cousin. The King was to be 
named William Jackson ; he was to pass for the son of one 
of Colonel Lane's tenants, taking charge of his master's 
sister on her journey ; and his dress and behaviour were to 
be in accordance with this employment. Lord Wilmot 
fully explained this matter to the King, who readily went 
into it, and prepared himself to act in his new character. 
After getting a few hours sleep, Colonel Lane came to him 
with his new suit, and cloak of country grey cloth, fashion- 
ed according to the holiday dress of a young farmer of that 
period. 

But Charles and his female companion were not to ride 
alone. A Cornet Lassels, a relation of Colonel Lane, was 
to ride in company with them, as their protector ; and a 
Mr and Mrs Petre (the latter Colonel Lane^s sister) were 
also to ride on one horse beside them. These last had a 
house at Horton in Buckinghamshire, and they were to ac- 
company the party so far on their w^ay to their own house. 
Colonel Lane himself, and Lord Wilmot too, were to be of 
the party, though to keep at a distance, and not to appear 
to belong to them. Mr Lassels and Miss Lane knew who 
William Jackson was, but the Petres were not admitted 
into the secret. 

1 In a letter on this subject, in the Appendix to Harris' Life of Charles II. 
Bishop Kenneth says, " I heard a great Peer observe, that Charles was in a 
manner past his senses, when the Duke said, * Brother, will you have the 
pi'iest come in 1 ' and without any sensible answer from the King, Father 
Huddleston, who was set to wait at the chamber door, was called in, and did 
what he pleased, without the King's choice or express assent to it." 



250 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

Such were the arrangements. Everything being now- 
ready for the journey, and Colonel Lane having given the 
pretended William some directions how to conduct himself 
in his new capacity, told him to bring the horse from the 
stable to the door of the house, with his hat under his arm. 
Old Mrs Lane, who was not in the secret, remarked to her 
daughter, " what a goodly horseman thou hast got to ride 
before thee ! " but noticed that he had given the wrong hand 
in assisting her to mount. This was Wednesday the 10th 
September. Being all now mounted, they set off in the 
direction of Stratford-upon-Avon, in .Warwickshire, at a 
place three miles beyond which they were to pass the first 
night. Soon after leaving Bentley, Lord Wilmot, Colonel 
Lane, and a servant, all on horseback, followed them at a 
little distance with a hawk and two or three spaniels, as if 
bent only on their amusement, but never losing sight of 
their friends, that they might be ready to assist them if 
necessary. 

They had not ridden above two hours, when Miss Lane's 
horse cast a shoe, which obliged them to stop at a village 
on the road side called Bromsgrove, to have it replaced. 
While William was holding the horse, he asked the farrier 
if there were any news ? The latter answered, that he had 
heard of none since the beating of the Scots rogues at 
Worcester. William next asked if any of the English were 
taken who had fought on the side of the Scots I " Yes," he 
he replied, " some of them are taken, but unluckily the 
greatest rogue of them all, Charles Stewart, hath escaped ;" 
on which this " greatest rogue of them all," observed, that 
if he were taken he ought to be hanged sooner than any of 
them, for bringing the Scots into England : " Aye," said the 
farrier, thou speakest like an honest man. I wish I could 
get hold of him, for I should then get a thousand pounds 
reward." By this time the horse was shod and they parted. 

Nothing farther remarkable occurred till they came near 
Wooton, which is within four miles of Stratford, when they 
perceived, on the road side, about a mile before them, a 
troop of parliamentary soldiers feeding their horses. This 
induced them to pause, and hold a consultation, what was 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 251 

best to be done. Mr Petre had once or twice before been 
rudely handled by some soldiers ; and afraid of a like treat- 
ment again, he was clearly of opinion that they should avoid 
them, and get into Stratford by some bye road. William 
was opposed to this plan, because the very circumstance of 
seeming to avoid them, if observed, might excite suspicion ; 
and after all, if the soldiers themselves were going to the 
town, which was probable enough, they would be sure to 
fall in with them again. This opinion he could not presume 
to offer openly, from the inferiority of his condition, but he 
whispered it to his lady behind him, who communicated'' it 
to Mr Petre as her own. The old gentleman, however, was 
obstinate, and insisted on his advice being followed. It 
turned out that William was so far right ; for they en- 
countered the soldiers in the streets of Stratford, but hap- 
pily passed by them unmolested. Here Mr and Mrs Petre 
took their leave of the party, to proceed to their own home 
in Buckinghamshire. 

All this while. Lord Wilmot and Colonel Lane had their 
eyes on the royal party, but saw no occasion to join them. 
They passed the night in that neighbourhood with Sir Cle- 
ment Fisher, at his house at Packington, on whom they 
could rely, both for his loyalty and his hospitality. This 
Baronet was married to Miss Lane after the Restoration. 

From this place Lord Wilmot sent Colonel Lane to Lon- 
don, for the purpose of endeavouring to procure a passport 
for the King to go to France, under his new name of Wil- 
liam Jackson. This passport, however, if procured, was 
never made use of ; and the Colonel, having been probably 
apprised by letter that it would not be required, appears to 
have returned to his own home. Meanwhile, Wilmot and 
the servant, wdth the hawk and dogs, continued to follow 
the King''s party as before. 

That night, they slept at the house of a Mr Tombs at 
Longmarston, as had been previously settled, three miles 
on the south side of Stratford. Here William spent his 
time chiefly in the kitchen. The cook was busy preparing 
supper for her master's guests ; and while so occupied, she 
desired William to wind up the jack. This he attempted 



252 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

to do ; but never having done any thing of the kind before, 
and setting about it somewhat clumsily, " What country- 
man are you, and what are you good for ! " exclaimed the 
indignant cook, '' if you know not how to wind up a jack T' 
To this William modestly answered, " that he was only the 
son of a poor tenant of Colonel Lane"*s in Staffordshire, 
where they seldom used roast meat ; and when they did, 
fchey turned the spit with the hand, because they could not 
afford a jack." This in some measure satisfied the cook, 
and allayed her indignation. 

Next morning, the 11th, the party rose early and pro- 
ceeded on their journey. Nothing occurred that day de- 
serving of notice. They passed through Camden, and reach- 
ed Cirencester in Gloucestershire the same night. Here 
they put up at the Crown Inn, and had supper ; William 
still acting in his former capacity, looking after the horses, 
or confining himself to the kitchen. A truckle had been 
prepared for him in Mr Lassels' bedroom, but when they 
had both retired for the night, they exchanged beds, Mr 
Lassels taking the inferior one to himself. 

The next day, being Friday the 12th, the party proceed- 
ed on their way to Bristol, passing through Sudbury. When 
in Bristol, the King had the curiosity to ride round by the 
Fort, though out of the direct way, to see what changes 
had been made since he had been there before. At length 
they arrived safely at Leigh, the residence of Mr and Mrs 
Norton, afterwards Sir George and Lady Norton. When 
they came to the house, being a holiday, many persons were 
playing at bowls on the lawn before the door, among whom 
Charles recognised Dr Georges, who had formerly been one 
of his own chaplains, and was a connexion of the Nortons. 
This gave him some uneasiness, and made his friends doubly 
anxious, lest he should be discovered. He put up the horses 
in the stable, while Miss Lane and Mr Lassels went into 
the house, where they were kindly received by the Nortons, 
who, however, as they did not expect them, appeared some- 
what surprised at seeing them. To account for their visit, 
Miss Lane pretended that they were on their way to visit 
a friend in Dorsetshire. While William was in the stable- 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 253 

yard, some young men were playing at pins, who invited 
him to take part in the game, but he pleaded unskilfulness 
and declined. 

Miss Lane now told the Nortons that her attendant Wil- 
liam was troubled with a tertian ague, and required to have 
a comfortable room for himself, and better fare than it was 
usual to give servants. This induced Mrs Norton to put 
him under the charge of her own maid, Margaret Eider, 
who was directed to provide him with whatever was befit- 
ting his condition ; which was a very agreeable arrange- 
ment for the supposed William, as it withdrew him from the 
company of the rest of the servants, of whom there were 
many in the house at the time. 

When Miss Lane was at supper the same night, she 
filled a plate of broth, and desired the butler, whose name 
was Pope, to carry it to the invalid, and to tell him that 
he should have some meat sent to him presently. The 
butler carried the broth into the room, with a napkin, a 
spoon, and bread, and spoke kindly to the young man, who, 
notwithstanding his ague, was not sorry to see such good 
fare placed before him. It seemed to the butler that he 
had seen William's face before, but he could not remember 
where. 

Dr Georges supped that evening with the family, and 
asked several questions at Miss Lane concerning the illness 
of the lad William, of whom she was so careful. Owing to 
the depressed condition of the Church of England clergy at 
that period, many of them, and among others this Dr 
Georges, had been obliged to study and practise medicine, 
in order to earn a livelihood. As soon, therefore, as supper 
was over, he, out of mere good nature, went to visit Wil- 
liam in his chamber, to see if he could be of any use to him. 
When he came into the room, Charles withdrew, as if un- 
designedly, to the darkest part of it, where his features 
could not easily be discernible. The doctor then sat down 
beside him, felt his pulse, and asked him some questions 
about his ague, which he answered in as few words as pos- 
sible ; expressing, at the same time, a great desire to go to 
bed. But the doctor was not so easily got rid of. He 



254 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

asked the patient if he had heard any reports about the 
King on his journey 1 But finding him shy of answering, 
and observing his short hair, he added, that he strongly 
suspected him to be a Roundhead, notwithstanding the 
good company he was in. " But," said he, " I will test 
you." And then going to the cellar, he brought up a bottle 
of sack, with which he drank to the King's safety, desiring 
William to do the same. WiUiam, no way indisposed, 
readily returned the civility, whereupon the doctor remarked 
that he was at a loss to know what to make of him. He 
now left him, and returning to Miss Lane, told her that 
her charge was at that time perfectly well, but advised how 
he should be treated when the ague returned. 

William rose next morning, the 18th, with a good appe- 
tite ; and, contrary to the resolution he had made, he went 
to the buttery-hatch to get his breakfast with the rest of 
the servants. Here he found Pope the butler, and three 
or four other men, busy eating bread and butter, and drink- 
ing ale and sack. While he was partaking with them, one 
of the men got on the subject of the battle of Worcester, 
and gave so accurate an account of it, that Charles con- 
cluded he must be one of Cromwell's soldiers who had 
fought in it. In order to satisfy his curiosity, he could not 
help asking him whether be had been present in the action ? 
" He told me," says Charles himself in his Account, " that 
he was in the King's regiment ; by which I thought he 
meant one Colonel King's regiment. But questioning him 
further, I perceived that he had been in my regiment of 
guards, in Major Broughton's company, that was my major 
in the battle. I asked him what kind of a man I was ? To 
which he answered, by describing exactly both my clothes 
and my horse ; and then looking upon me, he told me that 
the King was at least three fingers taller than I. Upon 
which, I made what haste I could out of the buttery, for 
fear he should indeed know me ; as being more afraid when 
I knew he was one of our own soldiers, than when I took 
him for one of the enemy's." 

William and Pope now went into the hall ; and at that 
moment, Mrs Norton happening to pass through it, they 



SEPTEMBER 1G51. 255 

both pulled off their hats, and kept them in their hands till 
she was gone. Charles remarked that the butler looked 
him very earnestly in the face while his hat was off; but he 
put it on again as quickly as possible, and walked out of 
the house into an adjoining field. 

Eeturning in half an hour, he went up to his bed-room, 
and while there, Mr Lassels came to him in some conster- 
nation, telling him that Pope had been with him, " and 
declares positively to Miss Lane and me that he knows 
you, and that you are the King, which, of course, we have 
denied." " Is he an honest man V said Charles, " for if 
so, it will be best to trust him at once, and enjoin secrecy 
on him, rather than run the chance of his communicating 
his suspicions to others." Lassels answering for his ho- 
nesty, Charles sent for him, and informed him that his con- 
jecture was right, and hoped that he would be faithful to 
him, and assist him. The honest butler fell down upon his 
knees, and with tears kissed his Majesty's hand, swearing 
that he would do his utmost to preserve him. He then 
told him where he had seen him before, which was when 
he was servant to Lord Jermyn, who was groom of the 
chamber to Charles, then a boy, at Richmond ; after 
that, he had served the late King, under Colonel Bagot, 
at the defence of Lichfield. " And it is very fortunate,*" 
added he, " that I know your Majesty, for otherwise 
you might have been in great danger in this house ; for 
though my master and mistress are good people, yet there 
are some here that are very great rogues ; and I think 
I can be useful to you in any thing you may command 
me." Charles then acquainted him with his design, which 
was to get a vessel, if possible, at Bristol, that would take 
him to France or Spain ; and as the next day w^as Sunday, 
he bade him go as early as he could on Monday, and make 
enquiry if any such vessel were to sail soon. But first he 
told him that he expected Lord Wilmot that day at Mr 
Norton^s, w^ho was coming to share in his dangers, and ac- 
company him in his escape. "It is well," replied Pope, 
" that your Majesty has told me this ; for if my Lord Wil- 



256 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES 11. 

mot had come here openly, he would certainly be known to 
some persons now in the house ; and so I will go and meet 
him, and bring him in to your Majesty by a back door, 
when it is dark." This he did accordingly, and thus the 
King and Wilmot once more had the pleasure to meet. 

Pope went to Bristol on Monday the 14th, as soon as 
his domestic duties permitted, and enquired about a vessel 
for France, but could hear of none that was to sail in less 
time than a month, which was much too long for Charles 
to wait where he was. He and his friends then consulted 
together what it would be best for him to do ; and learning 
that Colonel Francis Windham, a sure royalist, and a per- 
sonal friend both of Charles and Lord Wilmot, was then 
living at Trent, near Sherborne, on the south border of 
Somersetshire, he determined to go to him and seek a tem- 
porary asylum in his house. This officer had behaved very 
gallantly on the late King^s side during the civil war ; and 
though he had been forced to surrender Dunstar Castle, of 
which he was governor, it was on honourable terms ; since 
which time he had married, and was now living quietly on 
his parole at Trent.^ It was farther settled, that the King 
should travel as he had done before, as William Jackson, 
on the same horse with Miss Lane, accompanied by Mr 
Lassels ; Lord Wilmot being sent on before to announce 
the King''s approach to Colonel Windham, and to provide 
means for his concealment. But the night before they 
were to set out, an event occurred which threatened to de- 
feat their scheme. Mrs Norton, who had been on the eve 
of her confinement, was taken ill, and delivered of a still- 
born child ; so that the difficulty was for Miss Lane to feign 

* Sir Thomas Windham, the father of this Colonel, when on his deathhed, 
in the year 1636, summoned his five sons to his chamher, and spoke to them 
prophetically of the growing preponderance of the republican faction. " My 
sons," said he, " we have hitherto seen quiet times, but now prepare yourselves 
for cloudy and troublesome times. I command you to honour and obey your 
sovereign, happen what may ; and though the crown should hang on a bush, 
I charge you to forsake it not." So well did three of the sons, and a grand- 
son, fulfil this charge, that they fell in battle in defence of the late King ; and 
the other two sons were still doing their utmost to promote the same cause. 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 257 

an excuse for so abruptly leaving her cousin in that emer- 
gency. 

Charles, who had been well practised in the art of deceit 
while in Scotland, suggested the following expedient, which 
was adopted and acted on successfully. A letter was coun- 
terfeited from Colonel Lane's family at Bentley, informing 
Miss Lane that her father was dangerously ill, and desiring 
her to come to him immediately, otherwise she might not 
see him alive. This letter Pope the butler, who was a party 
to the stratagem, delivered so adroitly while they were all 
at supper, and Miss Lane acted her part so w^ell, that the 
Nortons really believed the old gentleman to be in danger, 
and excused their cousin going away "early the next morn- 
ing. 

They set off accordingly on Tuesday morning, the 16th, 
in a northerly direction ; but when they got to a convenient 
distance, they turned their horses' heads to the south, and 
rode in the direction of Castle Cary, where they arrived 
without accident, and stayed all that night at the house of 
a Mr Edward Kirkton, 

Meanwhile,^Lord Wilmot had gone to Colonel Windham, 
at Trent, and apprised him who was to be his guest ; at 
which intelligence he was overjoyed, and instantly began 
making preparations for his sovereign's reception. To avoid 
appearing to act with secrecy, which is always apt to beget 
suspicion, he communicated the intelligence to his wife, 
and his niece Miss Julia Coningsby, a man servant named 
Henry Peters, and two female servants, on whom he could 
depend, and whose services might be required. The rest 
of the servants he sent out of the way, on different pretexts, 
and a room was prepared for Charles which had, in a for- 
mer age, been contrived expressly for concealment. 

On the morning of Wednesday, the 1 7th, Colonel Wind- 
ham and his lady walked out to meet the royal party. 
Presently they saw approaching a pale and meanly dressed 
young man on horseback, with a portmanteau behind him. 
" Frank, how dost thou do T said the young man, when 
near enough ; whereupon the colonel instantly recognised 
his King, and kissed his hand with tears, and in silence. 

17 



258 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

They all then went into the house, where Charles was 
heartily welcomed, and shewn the means which were to be 
used for his concealment. Here, then. Miss Lane and Mr 
Lassels, knowing that their important charge was in safe 
keeping for the present, and that other means would be 
adopted for his future progress, took an affectionate leave of 
him, and returned into Staffordshire, 

I may notice, before proceeding, that in December this 
year. Colonel and Miss Lane, having reason to fear the dis- 
covery of what they had done for the King, travelled in 
disguise to Yarmouth, and embarked there for France. 
" Miss Lane was conducted to Paris with great honour ; 
the King himself, with the Queen his mother, and the 
Dukes of York and Gloucester, going out to meet her. 
Upon the first sight, his Majesty took her by the hand, and 
saluted her by this obhging term, ' VYelcome, my life.' 
The French court also regarded her with much respect, 
together with her brother Colonel Lane, who accompanied 
her.""^ Miss Lane remained abroad till after the Restora- 
tion, and then, returning home, married Sir Clement Fisher, 
a distinguished cavalier, already mentioned in this narra- 
tive. Charles settled ^1000 a year upon Lady Fisher; 
and gave her a gold watch, with a desire that it should go 
down in succession to the oldest daughter of the house of 
Lane in all time coming. Colonel Lane had .£^500 a year 
settled on him. 

In Seward's anecdotes, the following letter is given, as 
written by Charles to Miss Lane, dated Paris, 2yd Novem- 
ber 1652, but where the lady was at the time is not stated : 
— " Mrs Lane, — I have hitherto deferred writing to you, 
in hope to be able to send you somewhat else besides a let- 
ter ; and I believe it troubles me more that I cannot yet 
do so than it does you, though I do not take you to be in 
a good condition long to expect it,^ The truth is, my ne- 
cessities are greater than can be imagined, but I am pro- 

1 Monarchy Reviewed, p. 162. This book was originally written in 1661 
(since reprinted), and dedicated to " Lady Jane Lane," by Francis Eglesfield. 

2 We may suppose from this, that Miss Lane was at that time as ill off for 
money as Charles himself. 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 259 

mised they shall shortly be supplied. If they are, you shall 
be sure to receive a share ; for it is impossible that I can 
ever forget the great debt I owe you, which I hope I shall 
live to pay in a degree that is worthy of me. In the mean- 
time, I am sure all who love me will be very kind to you, 
else I shall never think them so to your most affectionate 
friend. Charles R.'' 

During the King's abode at Trent, he one day heard the 
parish church bells suddenly commence ringing ; and seeing 
from his window a crowd of people assembled in the church- 
yard, he sent a maid of the house to enquire into the cause 
of it. She presently returned to tell him, that one of 
CromwelFs troopers was addressing the mob, boasting that 
he had killed King Charles with his own hand at Worces- 
ter, and that the buff coat he then had on was the one he 
had stripped off him when dead ; and that the people were 
so overjoyed with this news, that they were ringing the 
parish church bells. " Alas ! poor people,"" was the only 
remark which the King made. This evidence of his unpo- 
pularity could not be very agreeable to him, even though 
he knew it to be founded in ignorance and delusion. 

And now the question with the royal party was, how 
they were to procure a vessel to convey the King and Wil- 
mot safely to France ? Lyme Regis was a small seaport 
about twenty miles from Trent. Thither Colonel Wind- 
ham and his trusty servant Peters rode, one day, to get such 
information as might be useful in the furtherance of their 
design. At this port there lived a Colonel Gyles Strong- 
ways, a well known royalist. To him Colonel Windham 
went, in the first instance, thinking he might be of service 
to them ; and so he was, in one respect ; for, being told 
who it was that wanted his help, he sent him 300 gold 
pieces, regretting his inability to do more ; for his senti- 
ments being well known in that neighbourhood, were he, he 
said, to be seen busy on the sea coast about engaging a 
vessel, it would excite suspicions, and so do the King harm 
rather than good. The gold was of great service to Charles, 
for he was utterly dependant on his friends for this neces- 
sary article ; and yet, from the disguise which he assumed, 



260 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U. 

he could not venture to carry more than a few shillings in 
his pocket at a time ; but Lord Wilmot acted as his trea- 
surer, and kept the purse. 

Colonel Windham next applied privately to another roy- 
alist, a Mr William Elsden or Ellisdon, who lived in the 
same town of Lyme Regis. This application promised to 
be more successful than the former. Elsden was well ac- 
quainted with the skipper of a bark of thirty tons belonging 
to that port, which had just returned from France. He w^ent 
and asked him when he meant to make another voyage ? 
To which the latter answered, that he would make another 
as soon as he got a freight for his bark. The other asked 
again if he w^ould carry two cavaliers to France, who did 
not wish their names to be known, for the consideration of 
£50, one-half to be paid dow^n, and the other half after he 
had landed the gentlemen safely in France ? The skipper, 
whose name was Limbey, said he would have no objection, 
provided Mr Elsden would so manage the matter, as not to 
bring him into any trouble, if the gentlemen had no pass to 
leave the country. To this Elsden readily agreed, if he 
himself would meantime keep his secret, which he promised 
to do. Both Windham and Elsden had afterwards a joint 
interview^ with the skipper, at which it was concluded that 
their friends should repair, on the morning of Monday 
the 22d, to a small maritime village, about a mile east from 
Lyme, called Oharmouth, where there was an Inn, at which 
they could be accommodated for a few hours. The barque 
would leave Lyme harbour the same night, drop down to 
Oharmouth, cast anchor opposite the village, and send her 
boat on shore ; and then, by keeping a good look out, and 
using caution, the two gentlemen could embark without 
much risk of discovery. 

With this intelligence Colonel Windham hastened back 
to Trent, and communicated his arrangement to the King 
and Wilmot, who, having readily agreed to it, made pre- 
parations for their journey. As it was still thought advis- 
able that Charles should appear in his former disguise, 
Colonel Windham gave him his niece Miss Julia Coningsby 
(afterwards Mrs Hixt) to ride behind him ; and being all 



SKPTEMBER 1651. 261 

mounted, they set off together on Monday morning, and 
reached Charmouth the same night. The first thing that 
Henry Peters, did was to shp a piece of gold into the hands 
of the landlady of the Inn, whose favour it was thought ad- 
visable to secure, whispering to her, that the two young 
persons on the horse were a runaway couple enamoured of 
each other (the gentleman being disguised as a servant, to 
prevent discovery) going with a few of their friends to be 
privately married, because a stingy unfeeling old guardian, 
out of pure malice, was doing all he could to obstruct their 
wishes. The nature of the story, the gold, and the promise 
of more if she proved faithful, and the confidence implied 
in the communication to her of so important a secret, effec- 
tually won the landlady's concurrence in the plot, and she 
promised to do her best for the furtherance of their wishes. 
Here Colonel Windham left the party, and went to the house 
of Mr Elsden, at Lyme, fully expecting to hear in the morn- 
ing from his servant, that the King and Wilmot were safely 
embarked, and well on in their voyage to the opposite 
coast, 

Charles, always mindful of those who rendered services 
to him, took this opportunity of sending Mr Elsden a gold 
coin, with a ribbon, which passed through a hole he had 
made in it with his own hands, promising to do something 
better for him when he should have it in his power. 

There were several travellers at the Charmouth Inn that 
night, besides the King and his companions, and therefore 
they were obliged to be content with what rooms they could 
get, not intending to occupy them long. Lord Wilmot and 
Peters went down several times in the course of the night 
to the beach, in search of the bark which was to meet them 
there, but were not a little mortified to find no appearance 
of it. They waited till near dawn, but still the vessel came 
not. At length they mounted their horses, and rode to Mr 
Elsden s house, at Lyme, to inform him and Colonel Wind- 
ham of the vessel's non-appearance. As soon as the Co- 
lonel heard this, without stopping to ascertain the cause, 
he set off with Pecers to Charmouth, desiring Wilmot to 
follow him to the Inn at Bridport, four miles farther east. 



262 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

to which place he meant to proceed with the King and his 
niece without loss of time. Elsden, at the same moment, 
despatched a servant to the pier to make enquiry concern- 
ing the bark, who soon returned with the information that 
she was lying in her former position, but that he could 
neither see nor hear anything of the skipper. From all 
this, it appeared that either treachery, or a misunderstand- 
ing, or an accident, had occurred to thwart the whole de- 
sign. Wilmot suspected Elsden, and Elsden suspected 
the skipper, but the mystery was soon cleared up.-^ 

The wife of the skipper had observed that, for some days 
past, her husband had been unusually reserved and thought- 
ful, and had conversed several times privately with his sail- 
ors ; and he had informed her that he was going to sail 
that very night, when she knew that he had no freight on 
board. She therefore suspected that there was something 
dangerous going forward ; and having in remembrance the 
proclamation, dated the 9th of the month, which had been 
made public at Lyme only within the last few days, regard- 
ing " Charles Stuart," and the fugitives from Worcester, 
she watched her opportunity ; and, with the help of her 
two daughters, laid violent hands on her husband, and 
locked him up in his bed-room ; threatening, if he attempted 
to stir without her consent, she would instantly give infor- 
mation of her suspicions to Captain Macy, who afc that 
time had the command of a troop of horse in Lyme. Hap- 
pily, the skipper submitted quietly to his imprisonment ; for 

1 In what is called " Captain Alford's Narrative," the skipper is represented 
as refusing to move in the business, because Mr Elsden (a ti*aitor at heart, 
the author alleges) neglected to pay him the stipulated sum in advance. But 
the story in the " Boscobel Tracts," which I follow, is much more circum- 
stantial, as well as more natural. Captain Alford was abroad at the time of 
Charles's escape, and his narrative is both inaccurate and defective. 

" Colonel Gunter's Nai'rative," which bears all the marks of genuineness, 
relates to a subsequent period ; but it is so clumsily drawn up, that the author, 
when speaking of himself, though he tells nothing but what he witnessed, some- 
times uses the first person, and sometimes the third ! In the various accounts, 
there are discrepancies which I do not attempt to reconcile or to particularise ; 
but coming from different persons unconnected with each other, those discre- 
pancies are not perhaps greater than might have been expected. Even the 
King, in his own " Account" of his adventures, occasionally forgets himself. 



SEPTEMBER 1651 263 

if he had acted otherwise, his wife might have carried her 
threat into execution, and this would probably have led to 
the discovery and apprehension of the strangers who were 
then impatiently expecting the arrival of the barque at Char- 
mouth. 

The skipper, when it was too late to keep his engage- 
ment with his employers, was set at liberty by his wife ; 
but so doubtful did she even then feel of his future beha- 
viour, that, by her directions, the daughters followed him 
at a distance, as they observed him going towards the har- 
bour, to watch whether he might not still entangle himself 
in difficulties ! 

But here we must leave the hen-pecked skipper and his 
family to settle their domestic differences among themselves 
as they best could ; and we may also reflect what would be 
their feelings when they learnt, as they soon must have 
learnt, for whose use their barque was on the eve of being en- 
gaged. All we are concerned to notice is, that the present 
opportunity of the King's escape to France by way of Lyme 
Regis was lost, and could not be recalled. 

Meanwhile, he and his fair companion were waiting in 
anxious impatience at the Inn. Colonel Windham at length 
made his appearance, and advised, that as the skipper had, 
from some unknowTi cause, disappointed or deceived them, 
they should instantly leave Charmouth, and go on to Brid- 
port, where Lord Wilmot was to join them. Accordingly, 
after settling w^ith the landlady, and rewarding her for her 
civility, they left the Inn early in the morning of Tuesday 
the 2.3d of the month. And it w^as well they did ; for a 
new danger w^as springing up from another quarter, of 
which they knew nothing till they were happily out of its 
reach. 

The parish church of this village, as was the case with 
all the churches of England in those distempered times, had 
been converted into a sort of politico-religious conventicle, 
to the duties of which any one was eligible, who had some 
little education, and a command of words, provided he 
made no use of the Prayer-Book, which w^as strictly pro- 
scribed, and did not preach against the republican govern- 



264 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

ment. It happened that on the evening on which the King 
and his friends were at the Inn, the minister, whose name 
was Westley, and who had been a soldier, was edifying his 
Charmouth audience, by holding forth, with vehement ges- 
ticulation, on the sins of the royal family, and on the duty 
incumbent on all good men of assisting in discovering the 
son of the late King, and giving him up into the hands of 
justice ; which subject he had chosen for his discourse, be- 
cause of the Proclamations, already adverted to, offering 
a reward of <^J000 for seizing and delivering up the person 
of Charles Stewart, who had escaped from Worcester. 
While he was thus haranguing his audience in the church, 
some of the travellers at the Inn had sent for a farrier call- 
ed Hammet, to shoe their horses ; which, when he had 
done, he, of his own accord, examined the feet of the other 
horses in the stable, and among them. Lord Wilmot's. 
After inspecting its shoes, he remarked to the hostler, that 
this horse must have travelled far lately, for it had shoes, as 
he knew from their shape, made in four different counties, one 
of which was AYorcestershire. Leaving the Inn stable, the 
farrier wandered into the church, while the preacher was still 
declaiming against the royal adventurer. While listenings 
the thought occurred to him, that the horse, whose shoes 
he had been examining, might possibly belong to the ad- 
venturer in question. When the service was over, he com- 
municated what had occurred, together with his suspicions, 
to some of his fellow- hearers, who agreed that he ought to 
lose no time in telling them to the minister. He proceeded 
accordingly to the house of the latter, who, very fortunately 
for the " adventurer," had begun his family devotions, which 
occupied an unusually long time. When he had finishedy 
and had heard the farrier s story, he thought it too late to 
move farther in the business that night, especially as he was 
fatigued after the performance of his public and private 
duties. Next morning he was informed that the suspected 
persons had departed ; but still, resolving to investigate the 
matter, he repaired to the Inn, pondering in his mind as he 
went, what might be the best method of entrapping the 
hostess into a confession, supposing her to be privy to the 



SEPTEMER 1051. 265 

plot : — " Why now, Margaret," said he when he arrived, 
" You are a maid of honour !'' " What mean you by that, 
Mr Parson V rephed ^largaret tartly. " Why, Charles 
Stewart lay last night at your house, and kissed you at his 
departure ; so that you must be a maid of honour." The 
woman then began to be very angry, and told him he was 
a scurvy ill-conditioned fellow, to go about to bring her and 
her house into trouble ; " but if I thought it was the King, 
as you say it was, I should think the better of my lips all 
my life ; so, Mr Parson, get you out of my house, or Fll 
find those that shall kick you out." 

Digesting this rebuff as he best could, the preacher next 
went with the farrier to Mr Butler, a magistrate, who, hav- 
ing heard l^he story, treated it with indifference ; not con- 
sidering that the accidental circumstance of a Worcester 
shoe being found on a horse's foot, could warrant any just 
suspicion as to the person or character of its owner. They 
then reported the case to Captain Macy at Lyme, who 
was at first inclined to view it as the magistrate had done ; 
but, after a little reflection, he changed his mind, and or- 
dered twelve troopers to be got ready immediately, and to 
accompany him to the eastward. They first went to the 
Inn at Charmouth, and learning there that the strangers 
had departed, and had gone in the direction of Bridport, 
they galloped to that town in quest of them. All that 
could be learnt at Bridport was, that two gentlemen, a lady, 
and a man servant, had recently set out from thence on the 
road towards London. They therefore rode on as fast as 
possible in that direction ; but, as will appear presently, the 
royal party, before being overtaken, had most providen- 
tially quitted that road, so that Captain Macy and his 
men, after proceeding as far as Dorchester, lost all traces of 
them, and gave up the pursuit in despair. 

It may here be told, that the report of the King's being 
at or near Charmouth, became so general immediately after 
he left it, that the military quartered in that vicinity, re- 
ceived instructions to search the houses of all the neigh- 
bouring gentlemen who were suspected of loyalty. Among 
others, the house of Pilsdon, belonging to Sir Hugh Wind- 



266 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

ham (the uncle of our Colonel), was twice examined. They 
took the old baronet, his lady, and daughters, and the 
whole family, and set a guard over them in the hall, while 
they searched every hole and corner where there w^as the 
least chance of any one being concealed. They even insist- 
ed that a young woman of the family was the King in dis- 
guise ; and could hardly be dissuaded from offering violence 
to her person, in their determination to examine her.^ But 
we must now return to the royal party. 

When they entered Bridport, it was full of soldiers 
who were about to embark there for the purpose of tak- 
ing the Isle of Jersey, which still held out for the King. 
Colonel Windham, alarmed at the presence of so many 
enemies, consulted Charles what should be done. His an- 
swer was, that he thought it the safest plan to put up at once 
at the best Inn, and go carelessly in among the soldiers, as if 
they feared nothing. Accordingly, when they reached the 
Eed Lion Inn, " William,*" still mindful of his assumed 
character, took the two horses, and josthng through the 
yard, which was full of soldiers, led them to the stable, re- 
ceiving some abuse from the men in passing, for pushing 
through them so rudely. In his own " Account," he says, 
'' I alighted, and taking the horses, thought it the best way 
to go blundering in among them, and lead them through 
the middle of the soldiers into the stable, which I did, and 
they were very angry with me for my rudeness." 

When he had taken off the bridles, he called to the 
hostler to bring oats for the horses. The latter, while so 
doing, looked the pretended William in the face, and said. 
" Sure, Sir, I should know you." This was no pleasant 
question for William, who, however, not losing his presence 
of mind, and wisely thinking it would be best to direct all 
enquiries from himself, began questioning the hostler what 
was his name — where he had lived — how long he had been 
at Bridport — how he liked his present situation, &;c. The 
hostler answered all these questions very distinctly, and 
said, among other things, that he had served at an Inn at 

1 Nee ante dimittunt quam indubio experimento genuinum explorassent 
sexum. Elenchus, p. 256. 



SEPTEMBER 1651. 267 

Exeter, kept by one Potter, " Oh, then," said William, " I 
must have seen you at Potter s, for I myself, when a boy, 
served a merchant who lived very near his Inn." The 
hostler was satisfied with this answer, and proposed that 
they should drink a pot of beer together. William ex- 
cused himself, on the plea that he must wait on his master 
and mistress at dinner ; but, he added, " we are just now 
on our way to London, and are to return this way in three 
weeks, when I shall hope to meet you again, and then we 
will have some drink together." 

Lord Wilmot now rejoined the party, and, after due con- 
sultation, there seemed no remaining alternative for the 
present but that of returning to Trent, by the nearest and 
least frequented road. They set out accordingly when 
their horses were fed, and turned off to the left of the 
London road, about an hour before Captain Macy and his 
troopers reached that part of it. They now found it would be 
impossible for them to go farther that night than to a village 
called Broad Windsor. But here fresh difficulties and risks 
awaited them. When they arrived, the village inn was full 
of soldiers on their march to the sea coast, all the rooms 
were occupied, and the wife or follower of one of the troopers 
had just been confined there, which had caused the constable 
and overseers of the parish to come and investigate the 
case, through fear lest the mother and child should be left 
as a burden on their hands ; so that, between the screams 
of the mother and infant, the squabbles of the parish 
officers, and the gruff voices of the soldiers, it may be con- 
ceived what kind of night the King and his suite passed. 
The tumult, however, had the effect of diverting attention 
from them ; and early the following morning, which was 
Wednesday the 24th September, they proceeded on their 
road to Trent, where they once more found themselves in 
a place of comparative safety, but yet one which they could 
not expect to enjoy much longer. 

Here the King was under the necessity of remaining till 
the 6th of October, in a state of painful anxiety, which was 
rendered the more so from his want of out-door exercise, 
and the uncertain state of affairs in the vicinity. To beguile 



268 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

the time, and furnish himself with some employment, he 
commonly cooked his own victuals, at which he was an 
adept, in his private chamber. 

The vigilance of his enemies had traced his route to the 
confines of Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, and every ima- 
ginable means were used to discover his retreat. On 
Sunday morning the 28th, a friendly tailor of the parish 
told Colonel Windham that it was rumoured that some 
person or persons of quality were secreted in his house, and 
that there was a talk of having it examined. The Colonel 
said that he had indeed one stranger staying with him 
(meaning Lord Wilmot, who still passed under the name of 
Mr Barlow), but he was so far from being secreted, that, if 
it would allay suspicion, he would bring him to church that 
very day. The tailor having recommended this step, the 
Colonel and his friend made their appearance in the family 
pew, which seemed to make a favourable impression on the 
people, for the Colonel himself, being a conscientious church- 
man, and not therefore in the practice of attending the 
ministrations of the sectarian preachers, they ascribed his 
coming on that Sunday to the influence of his stranger 
friend, of whom consequently they thought the more favour- 
ably, and thus there was no longer any mention of having 
the house searched. 

The only other alarm the royal party experienced after 
their return to Trent, was from the arrival of a troop of 
horse at the adjacent village of Sherborne. It was reported 
that they were on their march to Trent ; but, happily, 
instead of coming there, they proceeded to the sea coast. 

All this time, various consultations were held, and en- 
quiries made, with a view to the King's future movements, 
but without any positive result. It was at length deter- 
mined to send Lord Wilmot and Henry Peters to Salis- 
bury, to wait on Mr John Coventry (son of the late Lord 
Coventry), who was known to be both prudent and loyal, 
to ascertain what assistance he could give his Majesty, 
either in the way of advice, or in a supply of money, or in 
providing a vessel for him at some part of the sea coast in 
Hampshire or Dorsetshire. 



OCTOBER 1651. 269 

Peters soon returned to Trent with the information that 
Lord Wihnot had been most favourably received by Mr Co- 
ventry, who had not only furnished a supply of money, but was 
willing to do anything he could for the King's protection and 
service. In this he was to be assisted by the advice and co- 
operation of the Rev. Dr Humphrey Henchman, who, we may 
remark here, had been prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral 
before the Rebellion, and was made Bishop of that See after 
his Majesty's Restoration. A s soon as they and Wilmot had 
completed some definite arrangements, they were to send a 
special messenger to Trent to acquaint the King with 
them, and to obtain his concurrence in carrying them into 
execution. 

On the first of October accordingly, there arrived at Trent 
Mr Coventry's chaplain, the Rev. John Tillock, with a letter 
carefully concealed on his person, addressed to Colonel 
Windham, intimating that it would not be safe for the 
King to embark at any of the ports of Hampshire, because 
of the great strictness with which passengers were there 
examined ; and because, moreover, all the spare vessels on 
that coast had been seized to convey troops to Jersey ; but 
that he should rather find his way to Sussex; and mean- 
while, that it would be advisable for him to remove to Heale 
House, near Amesbury (three miles to the north of Salis- 
bury), the abode of Mrs Mary Hyde, a gentlewoman entirely 
to be depended upon for her discretion and her loyalty.^ 

Before this letter came, the King had written to a Col. 
Robert Philips of Montacute House (grandson of Sir Ed- 
ward Philips, late Master of the Rolls), whose residence lay 
between Trent and Salisbury. This officer had served the 
late King with great zeal in the civil wars, and was well 
known for his devotion to the royal family. As soon as he 
received the King's letter, he came in person to offer his 
services in any way in which they might be thought useful. 

It was now, therefore, settled that Colonel Philips, being 
well acquainted with that part of the country, should con- 
duct the King to Mrs Hyde's house at Heale. Colonel 

1 This house and estate is in the parish of Woodford, in the vale of the 
I'iver Avon, and now belongs to William Bewles, Esq. 



2/0 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES 11. 

Windham offered to accompany his Majesty, but this the 
latter would not permit ; promising, however, to return to 
Trent in case of unforeseen danger. On the morning of the 
6th October, Charles took an affectionate leave of this loyal 
family, and set off disguised as before, riding before Miss 
Coningsby, and followed by Henry Peters, who was to 
bring the young lady back after seeing the King safely de- 
posited at Heale. They passed through Wincanton in the 
early part of the day ; the town where, thirty-seven years 
after, an encounter took place between James II. and the 
Prince of Orange, just before the abdication of the former. 
In the course of the day, they met parties of soldiers who 
had been discharged from the public service, now that the 
civil war was nearly over. At one part of the road they 
passed through a whole regiment ; and soon after, they met 
the parliamentary General Desborough, accompanied by 
three or four of his officers, who had slept at Salisbury the 
night before. 

At Mere, a small town in Wiltshire, they stopped to 
dine. The landlord, Mr Christopher, was well known to 
Colonel Philips as a royalist at heart, though secretly, for 
fear of the republicans. He sat at the same table with his 
guests, as was customary in those times, and entertained 
them with the news of the day ; which was chiefly that the 
men of Westminster (meaning the Parliamentarians), not- 
withstanding their victory at Worcester, were in great per- 
plexity, from not knowing what was become of the young 
King ; " but," he added, " it is the common opinion that 
he is gone to London, and many houses have been searched 
for him there ;'' at which the " young King"' could not help 
smiling. After dinner the landlord asked him if he were a 
friend to Caesar, to which he answered that he was most 
truly. " Then," said he, " here's a health to King Charles," 
a toast which, it is needless to say, both Charles and Col. 
Philips pledged him very cordially. 

The party arrived safe at Heale the same night, and 
were received with the utmost hospitality by Mrs Hyde, 
who had been apprised of their coming, as well as of the 
rank of her principal guest. At supper, there were present. 



OCTOBER 1651. 271 

besides those who had accompanied the King, Mr Frederick 
Hyde, the brother-in-law of the widow, who did not then 
know who William Jackson was ; also a sister of her's, and 
Dr Henchman, both of whom had been admitted into the 
secret. Though WiUiam sat at the lower end of the table, 
his loyal hostess could scarcely avoid carving for him first ; 
but she did not refrain from drinking to him, and " sending 
him a plate with two larks, when others got but one." This 
was imprudent, as it might have led to enquiries, and to 
dangerous consequences. When William retired to his , 
chamber after supper, Mrs Hyde waited on him, and told 
him she had in her house a very safe place in which to con- 
ceal him if necessary ; " but," she added, " it will not be 
safe for your Majesty to trust any one here except Dr 
Henchman, my sister, and myself ; and my advice is, that you 
and Colonel Philips should take horse to-morrow morning, 
and make as if you were finally quiting the house ; but re- 
turn when it is dark, and I will see that the servants and 
others are out of the way when you arrive." Dr Henchman 
next waited upon him, and had a long conversation with 
him concerning the projected plans for his quitting the 
country. 

Next morning, the 7th, Charles and Colonel Philips, as 
recommended by Mrs Hyde, took their horses and rode as 
far as Stonehenge, which is three miles from Heale, where 
they spent the day in admiring the Druidical stones of that 
celebrated spot, and went back again to Heale at night. 
Charles was now installed into his new hiding-place, which 
he found larger and more convenient than those at Boscobel 
and Mosely. Here he remained six days in concealment, 
while his friends were busying themselves in devising means 
for his escape, Mrs Hyde and her sister assiduously attend- 
ing him all that time, and Dr Henchman bringing to him 
such letters as were sent to him from Lord Wilmot.^ 

But we must now leave the King at Heale, and follow the 
steps of his Lordship, who was using his utmost efforts to 

^ After the Restoration Colonel Windham and Miss Coningsby each re- 
ceived £1000, and Colonel Philips £400. I find no mention made of Peters, 
but it is to be hoped he was not forgotten, if then alive. 



272 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

get his royal master and himself safely conveyed to France. 
For this purpose, he was obliged to entrust his important 
secret to several royalists in that neighbourhood. Mr Tho- 
mas Honslow of Burbout, in Hampshire, was one of these. 
This gentleman immediately communicated his knowledge 
of what was passing, to the Earl of Southampton, who was 
then at Lichfield, and had been one of Charles's council 
when he was Prince of Wales. The Earl, though unwilling 
to endanger the King, and perhaps himself, by going to him 
.in person, expressed the utmost desire to serve him ; but, as 
it happened, the project which proved successful came from 
a different quarter. 

Some timid royalists were applied to at this time, who 
declined giving any aid to the King, through fear of the con- 
sequences to themselves. Their names are not mentioned ; 
but the author of " Boscober' says that " his Majesty sent 
to some subjects for relief and assistance in this his great 
necessity, who, out of a pusillanimous fear of the bloody 
arch-rebels, durst not own him." 

Another royalist, to whom Lord Wilmot applied for help, 
was a Mr Laurence Hyde, who was then living at his house 
of Hinton Daubeny, near (Jatherington, which is not far from 
the coast of Hampshire. This gentleman said he could do 
little personally ; but he offered the use of his house, which, 
as we shall see presently, was made available for the King's 
service ; and he rendered a still more important service, by 
recommending his neighbours. Colonel Gunter and his cousin 
Captain Gunter (who had both served the late king in the 
civil war, and now resided at Bacton, between Hinton 
Daubeny and Chichester,) as gentlemen who were both 
able and willing to assist his Majesty. 

I must here pause to say a few words respecting these 
Gunters, who, it will be seen, took an active part, especially 
the former, in contributing to the King's escape. The par- 
liamentary authorities, though professing great toleration, 
used every endeavour to suppress loyalty in politics and 
episcopacy in religion, because they saw plainly that these 
two were closely allied, and that the united principle, when 
fully carried out, could not but be fatal to their usurped 



OCTOBER 1651. 273 

authority. They therefore punished, both by fine and 
imprisonment, all who offended them in these particulars ; 
and, among the many thousands who suffered in this respect 
from their tyranny, were the two cousins just mentioned. 
Colonel Gunter, in particular, the more zealous and inde- 
fatigable of the two, had been, some time before this, sub- 
jected to the vexatious restraint of not being allowed to go 
more than five miles from his own house of Racton, on pain 
of imprisonment ; and, only a week before our notice of him 
begins, he had received a summons to appear before certain 
Commissioners in London, in order to have an arbitrary fine 
imposed on him as a Royalist ; and, failing obedience to this 
command, his property was to be sequestrated. At first, 
he tried to evade this summons, on the plea that he had 
been previously forbidden to go so far from his home as 
London ; but this objection being overruled, he went, and 
was assessed in the sum of ^£^200. However, on represent- 
ing to the Commissioners the reduced state of his finances, 
he succeeded, though not without difficulty, in persuading 
them to accept of only one-half of this sum ; and even that 
he was obliged to borrow. But another, and, as the event 
proved, a much more important concession he obtained 
from them was, the withdrawal of the order to confine him- 
self within five miles of his house ; for thus he was provi- 
dentially enabled to take measures for the King's escape, 
which he could not otherwise have done ; though, at the 
time, neither the Commissioners, nor he himself, had any 
notion that he was to make this use of his recovered liberty. 
It so happened that, in the early part of the same day 
on which the Colonel returned home from London (which 
was the 7th October) Lord Wilmot, who still called himself 
Mr Barlow, had come to his house with a letter to him 
from Mr Laurence Hyde, already mentioned. Though the 
Colonel had not yet returned, his lordship determined to 
wait for him, being informed by Mrs Gunter that he was ex- 
pected that evening. Towards evening, Mr Gunter arrived ; 
of which, when his lady was apprised, she went to the door 
of the house to meet him as he alighted from his horse ; 
and after welcoming him home, told him that a Mr Barlow 

18 



274 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES II. 

had that day come to see him on some urgent business, 
which he would not communicate to her, or to any one but 
himself. When he entered the parlour, he instantly recog- 
nised Lord Wilraot, whom he had often seen with the late 
king's army. The latter, perceiving that he was known, 
whispered to him, " I see you know me, but do not own me.'"' 
Of course, nothing more of a private nature passed between 
them, at the time ; but, after supper, the Colonel proposed 
to Mr Barlow to shew him to his bed-room. When there, 
the latter introduced the subject which was uppermost in his 
breast — " The King of England, your master and mine, and 
the master of all good Englishmen, is near you, and in great 
distress : can you help us to a boat ? " The Colonel looked 
surprised and anxious, and after a pause answered, '' Is he 
well ? is he safe V Lord Wilmot said he had every reason to 
believe that he was then in a safe place ; " because," re- 
joined the Colonel, " if he be not, I think I could find the 
means of concealing him till a boat could be found for his 
service." Lord Wilmot then told him, among other particu- 
lars, of their late unsuccessful attempt to escape by way of 
Lyme Regis, and of the safe hands in which he had recently 
left the King ; and having settled what should be done on 
the morrow, and extended their conversation to a late hour, 
they bade each other good night ; his Lordship first " hugg- 
ing the Colonel in his arms, and kissing his cheek again 
and again,"' in token of the satisfaction he felt in his ac- 
quaintance, and the confidence he reposed in him. 

When Mr Gunter retired to his bed-room, he found his 
wife sitting up for him, whose curiosity had been much ex- 
cited by the appearance and manner of the stranger, and 
the mysterious whispering she had observed to pass between 
him and her husband ; and she now earnestly desired to 
know the meaning of it. The Colonel begged she would 
excuse him for that night at least, as it was an afikir which 
did not personally concern her, nor was he then at liberty 
to speak of it to any one. This only sharpened her desire 
the more to know the secret ; and she even began to cry, 
declarino" she was sure there was some mischief hanging 
over them, of which it was his duty to inform her. The 



OCTOBER 1651. 275 

Colonel, without saying more, took up a candle, and return- 
ing to Lord Wilmot, informed him of his wife's passionate 
anxiety to know who he was, and the cause of his coming ; 
adding, that though he was confident of her fidelity, he 
would not entrust her with their secret without his permis- 
sion. " By all means acquaint her with it," said his Lord- 
ship ; which accordingly the Colonel did on his return to 
her ; nor had he any reason afterwards to repent of having 
done so, though she expressed great fears as to the final suc- 
cess of their undertaking. He also imparted the secret, 
on the following day, to his cousin Captain Gunter, whose 
co-operation would be required in furthering the plans for 
the King's escape. 

On the next morning, the 8th, Colonel Grunter rode to 
Emsworth, a fishing town near Racton, to make enquiry re- 
specting a boat ; but he could hear of nothing that afforded 
promise of success and safety. On his return home, he met 
Lord Wilmot by the way, who, impatient for information, 
had come out in quest of him. They then rode on together 
to another small sea-port, Longstone, not far from Ems- 
worth, to make farther search, but were again disappointed. 
Here it was thought expedient for the two friends to sepa- 
rate for the present. Lord Wilmot returned to Hinton 
Daubeny, and Colonel Gunter went back to his own house. 
The latter, after arriving there, dispatched Captain Gunter, 
and a Mr Rishton who had served with him in the late war, 
on the same errand, to a different part of the coast, appoint- 
ing to meet them at Chichester the next day. Meantime, 
the Colonel went to Hinton Daubeny to confer farther with 
Lord Wilmot ; and that evening turning out wet and stormy, 
his Lordship and Mr Hyde importuned him to remain all 
night ; but he, remarking that delays might be dangerous, 
left them, and returned home, after promising that he 
would let Lord Wilmot know, once a-day at least, what 
progress he was making in the pursuit of his object. He 
did not arrive at home till a late hour ; and taking only a 
short rest, he rose early next morning, Thursday the 9th, 
and went to Chichester, where he met his cousin and Mr 
Rishton ; and learnt from them, to his sorrow, that after 



276 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES U. 

all the enquiry they could make respecting a boat, they had 
not succeeded in their attempt to procure one. 

The Colonel now bethought him of a Mr Mansell, a 
French merchant in Chichester, who, though not himself 
an owner of boats, was in the practice of freighting them, 
when he needed them for his mercantile transactions with 
France. Colonel Grunter was not personally known to this 
merchant, but he called on him notwithstanding. Mr Man- 
sell received him courteously, and entertained him with a 
bottle of French wine, and Spanish tobacco. After some 
general conversation, the Colonel told him that he had not 
come to visit him as a*mere piece of ceremony, but to do a 
little business with him, and to request his assistance in a 
matter which very much concerned himself and some of his 
friends. The merchant having replied that he would be 
happy to serve him. Colonel Gunter proceeded to tell him, in 
confidence, that two particular friends of his had been un- 
fortunately engaged in a duel ; that mischief had been done ; 
and that they were desirous of getting out of the country 
into France as soon as possible, if a vessel could be secretly 
hired to carry them there. Mr Mansell said he knew of 
a vessel which was then at Brighthelmston (Brighton), of 
about sixty tons burden, which he thought could be pro- 
cured for this purpose. The Colonel promised him £50 for 
himself, and ^60 for the freight of the vessel, if he would 
undertake and expedite the business, which, in considera- 
tion of so liberal an offer, he readily engaged to do ; and 
before parting, it was fixed that they should go together 
the very next day to Brighton, where they would see the 
skipper, whose name was Feversfield,^ and endeavour to 
settle with him the time of embarking, and other parti- 
culars. 

The same day. Colonel Gunter went to Mr Hyde's, and 
reported to Lord Wilmot what he had done, and what he 
meant to do on the following day. The weather being still 
boisterous, and his horse fatigued, Mr Hyde lent him a 
fresh one of his own, which carried him to Racton that 
night. He did not take much more sleep than he had done 
1 In some of the accounts, this skipper is named Tattershall. 



OCTOBER 1651. 277 

the previous night ; but got up early in the morning of Fri~ 
day the 10th, and rode to Chichester, to keep his appoint- 
ment with Mr Mansell. Finding him in readiness, he dis- 
patched his cousin to Lord Wihnot, to acquaint him with 
the farther progress of the business in hand, and to say 
that he might expect soon to hear from him again. He 
and Mr Mansell then left Chichester, and by 2 o'clock they 
reached Brighton, which, at that time, was little more than 
a fishing village. 

Mansell made enquiry for the skipper, and, to his morti- 
fication, learnt that he had sailed only a few hours before 
for Poole in Dorsetshire, with a car^o of coals ; but hear- 
ing, at the same time, that owing to a contrary wind, he 
had got no farther than Shoreham, four miles to the west- 
ward, where his vessel was then lying at anchor, he dis- 
patched a messenger with a letter to him, requesting him to 
come immediately to Brighton, as he had something of im- 
portance to say to him. Providentially the letter reached 
him, and he came back as desired. Mansell and Colonel 
Gunter then made him the offer of £60, and all his ex- 
penses besides, the whole to be paid before sailing, if, be- 
fore going to Poole, he would receive on board at Shore- 
ham, within three days, two gentlemen, then in that neigh- 
bourhood, who were desirous, for reasons of their own, of 
finding their way to France as speedily and as secretly as 
possible. In short, the bargain was made, secrecy pro- 
mised, and the arrangements concluded to the satisfaction of 
all the parties concerned ; both the skipper and Mansell en- 
gaging to remain where they were, and to have every thing 
in readiness by the time the Colonel should return with his 
two friends. 

Next day, Saturday the 11th, Colonel Gunter went back 
to Hinton Daubeny, to acquaint Lord Wilmot with what 
he had done. He reached that place by 9 o'clock the same 
night, and there had the satisfaction to find not only Lord 
Wilmot, but Colonel Philips also, who had been sent that 
very day by the King from Heale, to gather and carry 
back to him such news as he could learn. All were much 
pleased with Colonel Gunter s account of the arrangements 



278 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES IL 

he had made at Brighton ; and Colonel Philips was so over- 
joyed, that he said to him, " thou shalt be a saint in my 
calendar for ever.'' 

It was now settled that Colonel Philips should return 
next day to Heale House, to announce the news to the 
King ; and he was desired, at the same time, to propose 
this farther arrangement to his Majesty. There is a place 
called Humbledon, about forty miles from Heale, in the 
direction of Brighton ; at which place, there resided at this 
time, the sister of Colonel Grunter and her husband, a 
Mr and Mrs Symons. At Humbledon, the two Gunters 
and Lord Wilmot engaged they would meet the King and 
Colonel Philips on the Monday ; and that meanwhile, they 
would prepare the Symonses for receiving and accommo- 
dating the whole party, if his Majesty should prefer pass- 
ing the night there, to going on to Hinton Daubeny, where, 
at any rate, Mr Hyde would be in readiness to receive 
him. 

Colonel Philips accordingly went the next day, Sunday 
the 12th, to Heale ; and when he had communicated his 
information and his plan to his Majesty, Dr Henchman, and 
the ladies, it seemed to them all so unobjectionable and 
feasible, that they agreed to it at once. 

Early, therefore, on the morning of Monday the 13th, 
the King, after taking leave of his faithful hostess and her 
sister, quitted the house of Heale, accompanied by Colonel 
Philips and Dr Henchman. They went three miles on foot, 
as far as Clarendon Park Corner. Charles was still dis- 
guised in his former grey suit ; and the party was followed 
by two or three greyhounds, as if setting out solely for the 
amusement of coursing. At the above place, his Majesty 
and his companion bade adieu to Dr Henchman ; and mount- 
ing horses, which were waiting for them, rode without stop- 
ping till they came to a place called Broadhalfpenny, which 
is very near Humbledon. Here they met Lord Wilmot and 
Colonel Gunter, who had ridden so far to meet them, with 
a brace of greyhounds. After some private conference, his 
Majesty said to the Colonel, " Canst thou get me a lodging 
hereabouts V The Colonel told him that Mr Hyde's house 



OCTOBER 1651. 279 

was prepared for him, which was only a Httle farther on ; 
*' but whether/' says the narrative, " his Majesty thought 
it too pubHc a place, or for what other reason, I know not, 
but he said, ' know you no other?' ' Yes, may it please 
your Majesty,' replied the Colonel, ' I know divers yeomanly 
men where, for a night, we may be welcome ; and here is 
one who married my sister, whose house stands privately, 
and out of the way.' ' Let us go thither,' said the King,'" 
and they went there accordingly. 

Both the S3niionses were royalists, but it had not been 
thought expedient to let them into the King's secret, as 
there was no need to tell this to more persons than was 
absolutely necessary. It happened that Mr Symons was 
from home at this time, and consequently was ignorant of 
the arrangement that had been made respecting his house ; 
but Mrs Symons received her brother and his friends very 
cordially, and put them into a room with a good fire, in 
which there was wine, biscuits, and ale, till supper should 
be got ready for them. In about an hour, supper was 
brought in, to which they all sat down at a round table, 
without distinction of rank. In the middle of supper, Mr 
Symons unexpectedly made his appearance, who, says the 
narrative, " plainly appeared to have been in company that 
day." He was naturally surprised to see a large party 
seated round his table, and the more so, as it included some 
whose faces he had never seen before. " This is brave ! " 
he exclaimed, " a man can no sooner be out of the way, but 
his house must be taken up with I know not whom ; " and 
then walking round the table, and viewing the company, 
when he came to his brother-in-law, " Is it you?" he said, 
" you are welcome." He next looked at the King, whose 
hair had not yet recovered from the effects of William 
Penderill's scissors — " here is a roundhead," he said ; " Co- 
lonel Gunter, I never knew you to keep company with 
roundheads before." " No matter," replied the Colonel, 
" he is my friend, and I assure you, no dangerous man." 
Upon this, Mr Symons, sitting down in the chair next to 
the King, and taking his hand, said to him, " brother 
round 'head, for his sake thou art welcome," evidently tak- 



280 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

ing him for what he seemed. The King very good humour- 
edly went into the joke, and sustained his part to the ad- 
miration of all who were in his secret. He even reproved 
Mr Symons once or twice for swearing, the better, perhaps, 
to keep up his assumed character. Their host treated all 
his guests with great hospitality ; but plied them so hard 
with drink, that the King and some of the others, in order 
to avoid taking too much, were obliged to pass their glasses 
on to one of their companions, and have their contents other- 
wise disposed of, unobserved by their entertainer. 

It was now ten o'clock at night, and the King and Co- 
lonel Philips being fatigued with their long journey, and 
the former having to ride nearly as far the next day, they 
were desirous of going to bed ; but the difficulty was to 
withdraw from the boisterous hospitahty of their landlord. 
At length, a plan occurred to Colonel Gunter. He whis- 
pered to him that Jackson, though a good fellow enough, 
yet being somewhat of a precise roundhead, and a check 
upon their mirth, if he would get him and his friend Philips 
to go to bed, they could then carry on their joviality as 
long as they liked. Mr Symons readily acquiesced in this 
proposal ; both the King and Colonel Philips were allowed 
to retire to the bed-room which had been prepared for 
them ; and the rest of the party soon after found some 
plausible pretext for following their example. 

The King and his friends slept soundly ; but, knowing 
how much depended on their being . on the alert, they got 
up by break of day, and, after an early breakfast, set off 
on their journey before Mr Symons was awake ; his Ma- 
jesty first taking leave of Colonel Philips, whose services 
would no longer be necessary, since Colonel Gunter, who 
was well acquainted with that part of the country, was to 
take his place, and do his utmost to conduct the fugitives 
in safety to Brighton and Shoreham. 

When they were passing by the castle on Arundel Hill, 
they saw its governor. Captain Morly, in the act of setting 
out for the chase. They could not avoid passing close by 
this parliamentary officer and his followers, but fortunately 
without attracting their observation. The King being told 



OCTOBER 1651. 281 

by Colonel Gunter who he was, remarked, " I did not like 
his starched mouchates/"' They next stopped at the ale- 
house of a village on the road, called Houghton, where, 
without alighting from their horses, they got some bread 
and drink ; and ate with much relish a couple of neaf s 
tongues, which their conductor had brought with him from 
Humbledon. 

The next place they came to was Bramber, by which 
time it was three o'clock in the afternoon. The town was 
full of soldiers, both horse and foot, who had arrived the 
night before ; and as the royal party came upon them un- 
expectedly, there seemed no possibility of avoiding them. 
Lord Wilmofs first impulse, being naturally timid, and not 
disguised, was to go back ; but Colonel Gunter said, " if 
you do, you are undone ; let us go on boldly, and we shall 
not be suspected." " He saith well," rejoined the King, 
who, it was often remarked, shewed more presence of mind, 
and less concern for himself, than was felt by those who 
accompanied him. Colonel Gunter went first, the two others 
followed, and thus they passed through the town and the 
troops unmolested. 

But they had not gone much farther when a new danger 
threatened them. Hearing the sound of horses feet behind 
them, they looked back, and saw thirty or forty dragoons 
riding after them at considerable speed. This was cer- 
tainly alarming, and Lord Wilmot began to despair ; but 
they agreed to slacken their pace till the supposed enemy 
came up. The dragoons very soon overtook them ; and the 
road on in which they were riding being narrow, and the 
parliamentary soldiers far from civil, they nearly unhorsed 
the royal party by their rude and rapid manner of passing 
them. But this indignity they willingly excused, after they 
had seen them fairly past, and disappear in the distance. 

The next village they arrived at was Becding, where 
Colonel Gunter had engaged the use of a house belonging 
to a Mr Bagshal, in which the King and Lord Wilmot 
might remain safe for a few hours, while he should go on 
by himself to Brighton, to see if Mr Mansell and the skip- 
per were there, and in readiness. But Lord Wilmot posi- 



282 PERSONAL HISTORY OF CHARLES H. 

tively refused to agree to this proposal, through fear of 
again falling in with the dragoons, who had lately passed 
them ; and took the King with him, by an unfrequented 
path, in the direction of Brighton, while Colonel Gunter 
went on by the main road ; first agreeing to meet again at 
the George Inn of the place. 

Colonel Gunter was the first to reach the Inn ; and hav- 
ing got possession of a good room, and ordered supper, he 
went out in quest of Mr Mansell and the skipper, whom he 
soon found, and invited them to sup with him and his two 
friends. His friends soon after arrived safely at the Inn, 
and were shewn by the landlord, whose name was Smith, 
into a room adjoining the ColoneFs. Presently one of 
them was overheard to say to the other, " Here Mr Barlow, 
I drink to your health." " I should know that voice," said 
Colonel Gunter to the landlord, who had just then came 
into his room ; and going to them, saluted them, in his 
hearing, as old acquaintances, who had just met for the 
first time, after a long separation. The Colonel then in- 
sisted on their joining him at supper, as his room was bet- 
ter than theirs, to which they, of course, offered no objec- 
tions. 

In a short time the Chichester merchant and the skipper 
made their appearance. They all five sat down to supper, 
and were waited upon by Mr Smith himself. During the 
meal, the skipper looked repeatedly and earnestly at the 
King. When it was over, he took Colonel Gunter aside, 
and told him that he had not dealt fairly with him ; for 
though he had promised him a good price for carrying these 
gentlemen to France, yet he had not offered him enough 
for so important a service ; " for," added he, " one of them 
is King Charles II., and I know him to be so ; for he took 
my boat, along with others, off" Brighton, three years ago, 
when he had command of the Channel fleet, and afterwards 
kindly let us go again ;^ but be not troubled, for I think I 
do God and my country good service in preserving my 

1 This was when part of the Channel fleet had revolted from the parlia- 
ment, and put itself under the command of Charles, then Prince of Wales 
and his brother, the Duke of York. 



OCTOBER 1651. 283 

King ; and, by the grace of God, I will venture my life and 
all for him, and set him safely on shore, if I can, in 
France." 

Though Colonel Gunter could not but be gratified with 
these expressions of devotedness to the King, on the part 
of the skipper, yet he felt greatly alarmed at his being dis- 
covered by one of whose real character he, at this time, 
knew nothing ; and therefore he immediately reported what 
had passed to his Majesty, who, as he had always done un- 
der like circumstances, determined to let the skipper into 
his confidence at once, w^hich he did accordingly, and re- 
ceived his promise of secrecy. But fearing, if he allowed 
him to go away, he might be tempted to divulge the secret, 
or behave as the Lyme skipper had done on a former occa- 
sion, he was kept where he was, smoking tobacco and 
drinking beer, till the hour fixed for their departure. 

Here Charles ran one more risk. Mr Smith, the inn- 
keeper, had formerly been servant to a gentleman of the 
court, and had seen the prince when a boy ; so that he be- 
gan to suspect who William Jackson might be, partly from 
his being manifestly a young gentleman in disguise, partly 
from the deference paid to him by Colonel Gunter, who was 
a well known royalist, and partly also from knowing that 
the King was still in the country, and would naturally come 
to a sea- port for the purpose of embarking. He had that 
evening drank somewhat too freely ; and after supper, when 
the said William was standing with his back to the fire, and 
the rest of the company were out of the room, he came up to 
him, and began conversing with him. He then fell on his 
kneeSj and kissing the King's hand, which was on the back of 
a chair, said, " God bless you, sir, wherever you go ; it shall 
not be said but that I have this day kissed the best man's 
hand in England. I do not doubt, before I die, to be a 
lord, and my wife a lady.*" The King laughed and quitted 
the room ; but, on consideration, he thought it best to se- 
cure this man's confidence by trusting him, as he had trusted 
the skipper, which he did ; and notwithstanding his ine- 
briety and loquacity, he had no reason to doubt his fidehty. 
These unexpected discoveries, however, of the King by 



284 PERSONAL HISTORY OP CHARLES H, 

strangers, and perhaps some other unknown circumstance, 
caused it to be soon rumoured that his Majesty was con- 
cealed in that neighbourhood ; so that it became evident 
to all concerned that no time was to be lost in putting his 
person out of danger. In point of fact, so much was this 
rumour believed, that a search was made for him by the 
public authorities at Brighton the very day after his em- 
barkation ! 

The vessel was at this time lying dry, during the ebb 
tide, in a creek at Shoreham. The skipper now began to 
think that, considering the importance of the personage he 
was about to take on board, he might fairly look for more 
than the sum he had stipulated for, and told Colonel Gun- 
ter that he expected he would at least insure his vessel, 
which he valued at ^^200, against the risk of seizure, in the 
event of his being discovered. The Colonel thinking this 
was no more than what was reasonable, consented to it ; 
" but," added Mr Feversfield, " I must have your bond for 
it." To this the Colonel made objections ; and the King, 
who was present, remarking that " a gentleman's word was 
as good as his bond, especially when given before witnesses," 
the skipper gave up his demand, on the understanding 
that he was to be farther remunerated for his service, should 
his Majesty ever be fortunate enough to recover his king- 
dom. 

The King and Lord Wilmot now lay down in their 
clothes for about two hours ; and the Colonel coming to 
call them at four o'clock in the morning of Wednesday the 
15th, the whole party got ready, mounted their horses, and 
set out for Shoreham, Mr Feversfield being taken on a 
horse behind one of them. When they arrived, the sea 
had not returned sufficiently to surround the vessel, so that 
the two fugitives, after taking an affectionate leave of their 
friend, to whom they were under such strong obligations, 
got on board by means of a ladder, and then descended 
into the little cabin to wait the flowing of the tide. In 
about two hours more, the vessel was afloat; and the wind, 
which before was contrary, being now favourable, they were 
soon under sail, and had fairly escaped out of England. 



OCTOBER 1651. 285 

'^ Thus," says Dr Bate, " did Charles escape out of the 
snares of his inveterate foes, whose life, unless Heaven had 
defended it, would have been destroyed a hundred times. 
For when we consider that, though he passed through ten 
different counties of England — through the hands of so 
many persons of the lowest rank, and the most opposite 
creeds — of so many women, who find it difficult to keep a 
secret — of so many men, who knew they would suffer se- 
verely if discovered concealing him — so many persons, in 
short, of broken fortune, to whom a reward could not have 
been otherwise than tempting ; and yet, that he was be- 
trayed by none of them, the Hand that protected him was 
manifestly Divine.; and this alone may teach all men, by 
undoubted testimony, the arrogance of those rebels who 
claimed Providence to be with iliem^ and how dear to God 
is the safety of his anointed." 

To this I will only add that, had Charles seen and ac- 
knowledged the Divine Hand which so remarkably delivered 
him from his rebellious subjects ; had he deeply repented 
of the falsehood, hypocrisy, and perjury which he practised 
when in Scotland ; had he profited by his subsequent mis- 
fortunes ; and, when restored to his throne, had he evinced 
his gratitude to God by the piety and purity of his after 
life, his own destiny, and that of his successors, would pro- 
bably have been very different from what they were. 



286 OUTLINE OF CHARLES II.'S LIFE 



OUTLINE 



OF 



CHARLES THE SECOND'S LIFE, 

AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND, TILL HIS 
RESTORATION. 



Though the vessel in which the King and Lord Wilmot 
had embarked, was hired for their use, yet, as was said, she 
had on board a cargo of coal for Poole in Dorsetshire., to- 
wards which port it was the skipper's intention to steer, in 
the first instance ; and when he had got to a certain dis- 
tance, to stand across the Channel for the French coast. 
But this he could not well do, without giving his crew some 
plausible pretext for it. He therefore requested of his two 
passengers that, by some contrivance, they would obtain his 
mens' concurrence to his landing them in France, before 
sailing for Poole. The King, in his own " Account," de- 
scribes this scene graphically enough : — " As we were sailing, 
the master came to me, and desired that I would persuade 
his men to use their endeavours with me to get him to set 
us on shore in France, the better to cover him from any 
suspicion thereof. Upon which, I went to the men, who 
were four and a boy, and told them truly that we were two 
merchants that had some misfortunes, and were a little in 
debt ; that we had money owing to us at Rouen in France, 
and were afraid of being arrested in England ; that if they 
would persuade the master (the wind being then very fair), 
to give us a trip over to Dieppe, or one of those ports near 
Rouen, they would oblige us very much ; and with that, I 
gave them twenty shillings to drink. Upon which, they 
undertook to second me, if I would propose it to the mas- 



r 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. ,287 

ter. So I went to the master, and told him our condition, 
and that if he would give us a trip over to France, we would 
give him some consideration for it. Upon which, he coun- 
terfeited difficulty, saying it would hinder his voyage. But 
his men, as they had promised me, joined their persuasions 
to ours, and at last he yielded to set us over." 

This difficulty being overcome, instead of sailing any far- 
ther east, they put their helm about, and steered right 
across the channel for the coast of Normandy. Early on 
the following morning, they found themselves opposite 
Fecamp, a small sea-port between Dieppe and Havre. But 
the wind coming suddenly round, when they were within 
two miles of the town, they were obliged to come to an an- 
chor, till the tide should turn and help them on again. 

While lying there, they observed at a distance a bark 
coming down towards them, which they took for an Ostend 
privateer. Ostend was then situated in the Spanish Nether- 
lands ; and Spain being at this time at war with France, 
the privateer would not probably have scrupled to seize 
even an English vessel trading on the French coast. The 
apprehension of this alarmed the fugitives, and induced 
them to prefer landing at Fecamp, in a small boat, to 
incurring the risk of being examined, and perhaps plun- 
dered, and possibly even landed again in England. The 
skipper, concurring in this view of the matter, sent them 
on shore in his boat, on the morning of Thursday the 1 6th 
of October. The supposed privateer turned out to be only 
a French hoy, which would have done them no injury. 

Before leaving the skipper, Charles gave him a pass, in 
case he should, on his return, fall in with any of the armed 
vessels belonging to Jersey, which still acknowledged his 
sovereignty. But no sooner had the King landed, than a 
violent gale sprung up from the land, which obliged the 
skipper to cut his cable and stand out to sea ; and he made 
so rapid a passage to Poole, that no one knew he had sailed 
out of his proper course, excepting those who were with 
him. He afterwards claimed, and received from Colonel 
Gunter .^S, which he estimated to be the value of the an- 
chor and cable he had lost. 



288 OUTLINE OF CHARLES H.'S LIFE 

This person, after his Majesty's Restoration, was made 
a captain in the Royal Navy. He brought his vessel^ into 
the Thames, and anchored her opposite Whitehall, where 
she lay for several months, and was visited by multitudes, 
in consequence of the fortunate service she had rendered to 
the King of England. 

All the day of their landing the King and Wilmot spent 
at Fecamp, and next day they proceeded to Rouen, at the 
chief Inn of which they could not obtain admission, on ac- 
count of their shabby and suspicious appearance, till Charles 
sent for an English merchant who lived there, to whom he 
made himself known. " The next day," says the King 
himself, " we got to Rouen to an Inn, one of the best in the 
town, in the Fishmarket, where they made difficulty to re- 
ceive us ; taking us, by our clothes, to be some thieves, or 
persons that had done some very ill thing, until Mr Sand- 
burn, a merchant, for whom I sent, came and answered for 
us."" This merchant also supplied them with money, of 
which they were much in want. At Rouen they stayed two 
days, procuring a change of dress, and writing to their 
friends in England and at Paris. Mr Sandburn received 
from Charles the grey cloth disguise he had worn when in 
England, which he ever after preserved as carefully as if 
they had been the relics of a saint Dr Earl, his former 
sub-tutor, and afterwards Bishop of Worcester, was staying 
at Rouen at this time ; and as soon as he heard of the 
King's arrival there, hastened to pay his respects to him ; 
but so much was his pupil altered in appearance, that the 
bishop, mistaking him at first for one of the servants of the 
hotel, asked him where the King was ! But discovering his 
error immediately, he fell down upon his knees, and atoned 
for his inadvertence by the most cordial congratulations on 
his happy deliverance out of the hands of his enemies. 
This clergyman afterwards accompanied the King as his 
chaplain. 

As soon as the Duke of York heard of the arrival of his 
brother at Rouen, he sent his coach, with Lord Gerard and 
others of his suite, to wait upon him. On the 29 th of Octo- 



I 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 289 

ber,^ his Majesty set out from Rouen on his way to Paris, 
and slept that night at Fleury. Next morning the Duke 
met him at Magnie. The same evening, at Monceaux, he 
was welcomed by his mother the Queen, with her brother 
the Duke Orleans, and a great number of English and 
French noblemen on horseback, who accompanied him to 
Paris. 

As we have had recourse to Mademoiselle de Montpen- 
sier^s autobiography for some account of Charles, previous 
to his departure from France, so we will again quote from 
the same lively and truly French writer, a farther account 
of him, after his return to the same country. But in the 
following account which our authoress gives of his adven- 
tures, subsequent to the battle of Worcester, though pro- 
fessing to give what she had heard from himself, the reader 
of the foregoing narrative will detect several inaccuracies ; 
aftbrding a specimen of that carelessness which narrators 
of facts are apt to fall into, unless they pay a scrupulous 
attention to details. — 

" He had raised a considerable army in England — one 
twice as powerful as that of the enemy ; and yet, by I know 
not what ill fortune, which has followed him in every thing 
up to this hour, he was defeated, totally routed, and obliged 
to fly. The news of this disaster reached the Queen, his 
mother,, at Paris. Every one went to console her, but this 
only augmented her grief, for she knew not if her son were 
a prisoner or dead. This anxiety did not last long. She 
learned that he was at Rouen, and would soon be in Paris, 
upon which she went to meet him. I had not gone out for 
some time, having a swelled face ; but I thought, on this 
occasion, it was indispensable to do so, and I paid her a 
visit next day, though my hair was undressed. She said 
to me, ' You will find my son looking very ridiculous ; for, 
to save himself, he was compelled to cut off his hair, and 
to assume a disguise of an extraordinary kind."* At that 
moment he entered the room, and I really thought he had 
a very fine figure, and was looking much better than before 

1 New Style, wliicli was then used on tlie Continent, but had not yet been 
adopted in Great Britain. 

19 



290 OUTLINES OF CHARLES Il/s LIFE, 

his departure ; although he had little hair, and a great deal 
of beard, which affect the appearance of most people. I 
found that he now spoke French tolerably well ; and he 
related how, after having lost the battle, he had passed 
with a party of forty or fifty horsemen through the enemy^s 
army, and through the city near which the conflict had 
taken place. He had then dismissed the cavaliers, remain- 
ing with only a single lord. They had been for a long time 
in a tree, and afterwards in the house of a peasant, where, 
in order to prevent his being known, he had cut off his 
hair. A gentleman, whom he had recognised upon the 
road, had taken him to his house, where he remained for 
some time. The brother of this gentleman had carried him 
on horseback, riding behind him en croupe^ to London, 
where he remained for a night, sleeping during ten hours 
with the greatest tranquillity. He had then taken boat 
from London to the port from whence he had embarked ; 
and thus, although recognised by the captain of the vessel, 
he had arrived at Dieppe ''(!!). 

" He conducted me home by the gallery which I men- 
tioned at the commencement of these memoirs, leading 
from the Louvre to the Tuileries. On the way, he spoke 
of nothing but the miserable life he had led in Scotland, 
where there was not a woman to be seen ; and the bai'- 
barism of the men such, that they thought it a sin to listen 
to the violin ; hence, he added, he was so dispirited and 
ennuy^^ that he had felt the loss of the battle less severely, 
from the hope he had of returning to France, where he 
found so many charms in persons for whom he had the 
greatest regard." 

" By all he said to me, he appeared a timid lover, who 
did not venture to say all he felt for me ; and who preferred 
that I should think him unconcerned about his misfortunes, 
rather than trouble me with the recital of them. To others 
he did not speak of the joy he felt at being in France, nor 
of his passion for the dance. He no longer gave me any an- 
noyance, as he had done before, which you may perceive from 
the favourable account I have given of what he said to me, 
though in bad enough French. At his second visit, he 



I 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 291 

begged of me to let him hear my band of violinii^ts, which 
was reckoned particularly good. I sent for them, and we 
danced ; and as the swelled face I have mentioned obliged 
me to keep the house all that winter, he came every other 
day to visit me, and we danced. All the youth and beauty 
of Paris came to our parties, but he paid no court to any 
one except me. The Queen was not at Paris, and Madame 
had such uncertain health, that she had no taste for the 
world, or any amusements. Our assemblies began at five 
or six o'clock in the evening, and finished at nine. The 
Queen of England often came to them. One evening she 
surprised me by coming to supper, bringing with her the 
King her son, and the Duke of York. Though my table 
was as good as her own, all the royal tables being very 
much alike, yet I was vexed that I could not give her a 
better entertainment. After supper we played at little 
games ; and this led to the resolution to continue these 
amusements, and to divide the time between dancing and 
playing. The King of England assumed the behaviour 
which lovers are said to assume. He shewed me great de- 
ference, looked at me incessantly, and did all he could to 
amuse me. He said soft things {des douceurs) to me, as 
every one told me who overheard him ; and spoke such 
good French when so employed, that all were forced to ad- 
mit that love more properly belongs to the French language 
than to any other. When the King spoke my language, 
he forgot his own, and never wholly left off the use of the 
latter, but when with me." 

" One day the Queen of England came to speak to me 
about the marriage of her son, saying that the footing on 
which she and he had always been with me, would not allow 
them to speak to Monsieur (the lady's father) on this sub- 
ject, without knowing if it were agreeable to me ; that 
when the King was in a more prosperous condition, he had 
made the proposal to Monsieur, in the belief that it would 
not be unacceptable to me ; but now that so much of my 
fortune was at my ovm disposal, he proposed depending on 
my generosity rather than Monsieur's. I replied that I 
felt so contented with my present condition, that I had no 



292 OUTLINE OF CHARLES IL's LIFE, 

desire to change it ; but, at any rate, I would require some 
time to think on the subject. She said she would give me 
eight days to make up my mind ; but hoped I would con- 
sider that, though married, I should still be mistress of my 
own fortune ; that the King could live, with his suite, on 
the pension he received from the French court and his 
friends in England ; that he had still numerous supporters 
in his own country ; that several German princes had pro- 
mised him succours ; that I should be a Queen, and one of 
the happiest persons in the world, «Sz;c." " Not long after 
this, the Queen came again to me and said, my niece, I 
have heard that there is some prospect of your being mar- 
ried to the King (meaning, of France, who was seven years 
younger than herself) ; my son and I would never think of 
preventing such an alliance, which is much better for you 
than becoming Queen of England, and therefore we will 
not press you any farther for the present on this point ; 
only promise, that should that prospect not be realised, you 
will think favourably of our proposal. I replied, that I had 
not before heard of what she had just mentioned, but that 
I had no objection to Her speaking to Monsieur about my 
marriage. My Lord Jermyn, who was both the Queen's 
and her son's adviser, came frequently to converse with me 
about this. Soon after, the Queen sent him to tell me 
that she was going to the Luxembourg to converse with 
Monsieur on the subject. To this I agreed, as I had done 
before ; and certainly it was very kind in her not to do this 
without first telling me. I afterwards went myself to Mon- 
sieur, who told me both what the Queen had said to him, 
and what he had said to her ; namely, that I was not alto- 
gether at my own disposal ; that I was the property of 
France, and that nothing could be done in regard to my 
marriage without the King of France's consent. I told 
him I was very glad he had given such an answer, because, 
in the condition England then was, I could have no satis- 
faction in being Queen of it. When I reached home, the 
King of England came to me. He imagined that the mat- 
ter had been settled in his favour, as he had not anticipated 
any obstacle on the part of Monsieur. Accordingly, he said 



\ 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 293 

many gallant things to me about the greater desire than 
ever which he now felt to recover his dominions, because I 
should partake of his good fortune along with him. I told 
him, that unless he went there himself, I thought it would 
be difficult for him to recover what he had lost. What ! 
he asked, would you have me leave you immediately after 
I am married to you ? Yes, I said, because I should then 
be more interested in your prosperity than I am now ; and 
I should be sorry to see you dancing triolets, and amusing 
yourself, when you ought to resolve upon your having your 
head either crowned or cracked. I added, that I thought 
he would be unworthy of his throne, if he did not go in 
quest of it, at the point of the sword, and at the risk of his 
life.^ Madame d'Epernon, who greatly desired our mar- 
riage, was pleased to find that we thus talked together on 
the subject. I was not very well at this time. The King 
came to see me, and often sent to make inquiries concern- 
ing me. But I was in no haste to bring this matter to a 
conclusion, and I recommenced giving my balls as for- 
merly."" 

" The Dowager-Countess of Fiesque had a great regard 
for the King of England, and said to me that I must make 
him a Catholic. Indeed, she incessantly entreated me to 
speak to him about this, and once I did so. His answer 
was, that he would do anything for my sake ; but that be- 
fore sacrificing his conscience for me, I must conclude the 
affair he had so often spoken to me about. The Duchess 
d'Aiguillon, niece of the late Cardinal Richelieu, who 
was very devout, and nevertheless a great courtier, urged 
me extremely to promise that I would marry him, on the 
condition that he would become a Catholic ; saying that I 
was under a sacred obligation to do so, and that I should 
be answerable to God if I did not. My Lord Montague 
came to visit the Countess de Fiesque ; and these two 



1 This was a noble proposal on the part of Mademoiselle, had she acted up 
to it ; but the implied reproach of Charles was unjust, because he had already 
done his utmost for the recovery of his dominions, and was ready to do the 
same again, whenever a favour-able opportunity offered. It would have been 
madness to rush headlong into danger without a hope of success. 



294 OUTLINE OF CHARLES U.'S LIFE 

came to me, to discover how my inclination lay, and en- 
gaged me in this business in such a way that I could 
scarcely resist their importunity. I saw from this^ that the 
court wished for the marriage^ in order to injure Monsieur, 
by giving him an aUiance which could be of no advantage 
to him. I spoke of this to M. Goulas at the Luxembourg, 
and he promised to call on me some morning soon and con- 
verse with me about it. The same day there was a comedy 
at my house, and the King of England came to it. I said 
nothing to him about the marriage, at which he was of- 
fended. I shewed no concern at this, and the consequence 
was, that for several days he did not come near me ; after 
which, my Lord Jermyn asked an audience of me. I told 
him he might come the next morning ; and it so happened, 
that when he came, M. Goulas was with me in my cabinet. 
When Jermyn was told this, he refused to come in, but 
waited- till I was at liberty. Goulas meanwhile shewed me 
the wretched condition 1 should be in, when Queen of Eng- 
land ; that though I had great wealth, yet I had not 
enough for such an enterprise as the recovery of that king- 
dom ; that when the King had sold the whole of my pro- 
perty, and, after all, failed in his undertaking, I might die 
of hunger ; or, if he died first, I should be the most mise- 
rable Queen in the world ; that I must, in that case, live 
at the expense of Monsieur, instead of being able to assist 
him ;^ that the frequent visits of the King of England, and 
the attentions he publicly paid me, might have a bad effect 
in foreign courts, by hindering other princes from proposing 
to me ; and that, in short, 1 ought immediately to break 
off this connexion.'' 

" After Goulas had withdrawn, Jermyn came in. I have 
no doubt, he said, that our proposal has succeeded, for M. 
Goulas is an able advocate. I told him that the King of 
England did me much honour, but his affairs were not then 
in a condition to bring the matter to a favourable conclu- 
sion ; and that I should be obliged by his not coming so 
often to visit me, because every one remarked it, and that 

1 Mademoiselle had inherited her large fortune through her mother ; and 
her own father Monsieur was so pooi", that she was obliged to support him. 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 295 

did me no good. He was surprised, and said all he could 
to make me change my purpose, but I would not yield. 
After that, the King was three weeks without seeing me, 
and I believe that vexed and annoyed him. He had now 
very few amusements, and people saw that mine did not 
consist in conversing with him. !My assemblies were more 
frequented, and quite as gay as when he attended them ; 
since many came to them who did not come before, because 
they had not the honour of his acquaintance. On those 
days when I gave a dance, Madame d'Epernon gave one at 
her house to the King ; and thus they tried to persuade 
themselves that they could be happy without me." 

In this manner was the intercourse between the two 
lovers, if they could be so called, broken off for ever ; but 
I may here remark, that the lady tells her readers, in a 
subsequent part of her Memoirs (the truth of which, how- 
ever, I cannot help doubting), that after the King had re- 
covered his throne, he desired his mother to make her an 
offer, once more, of his hand ; but that she declined it, on 
the plea that as she had refused him in his adversity, she 
would not accept him in his prosperity, lest the world might 
accuse her of acting from selfish motives. Mademoiselle, 
after numerous matrimonial intrigues, privately married, at 
the age of forty-two, an obscure Frence count, who made 
her very unhappy by his ill-treatment of her — thus afford- 
ing another of the many examples with which history 
abounds, that our punishment, in this life, commonly corre- 
sponds to the nature of the offence we have previously com- 
mitted. 

The accomplished biographer of Queen Henrietta Maria 
remarks, concerning Charles, after his escape from England, 
that, " all the high heroic sentiments derived from the 
classics, all the noble romance of youth, which usually brings 
forth fruits in manhood, were obliterated by his visit to his 
native land." And for this he had, no doubt, in a great 
manner to thank those whose rigid demeanour, and tedious 
lectures, had imposed an unnatural check on the buoyancy 
of his youth ; and whose incessant reflections on the sins of 



296 OUTLINE OF CHARLES U.'S LIFE, 

his parents and his ancestors, not only excited in him a dis- 
gust both to them and their rehgion, but, it may be feared, 
to all religion ; seeing that they, in a manner, forced him to 
profess what he never could believe, to conform to what he 
abhorred, and to subscribe documents which every one now 
admits were repugnant to all good feeling; the result of which 
was, that, when emancipated from this restraint, he became, 
in a great measure, reckless and dissolute. This was deeply 
lamented by his best friends ; and by none so much as those 
great men, Hyde, Nicholas, and Ormond, who in vain en- 
deavoured to check the voluptuous tendencies of their 
Sovereign, whom, notwithstanding, they knew it to be their 
duty to honour and obey. 

Nor was Charles's temporal condition, during his exile, 
any better than his moral. He was allowed only 6^^5000 
a-year by the French government for his expenses, which 
sum, though it had been regularly paid, which it was not, 
was little enough for himself, and wholly inadequate for the 
establishment which he was obliged to support. Soon after 
his arrival at Paris, he created his friend Lord Wilmot, 
Earl of Uochester ; and sent him, as his representative, to 
the Diet of Ratisbon, for the purpose of soliciting a grant 
of money from the German Princes there assembled. A 
grant was voted to him, which would have been handsome, 
had it all been paid ; but Lord Rochester received only a 
small part of it ; and from that he had to deduct his own 
expenses, which were considerable, so that little remained 
for the King. 

During his stay in Paris, the French Protestants endea- 
voured to prevail on him to attend their places of worship, 
on the ground that he vvas a " Protestant" like themselves ; 
but he very properly told them, that the Church of Eng- 
land differed as widely from them as it did from the Ro- 
manists ; and he reminded them, moreover, that however 
they might condemn, as they did condemn, the murder of 
his father, they had, like the Scotch and English Presb}^- 
terians, done every thing in their power to dethrone him, 
and to aid his rebellious subjects, by taking part with them 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 297 

in overthrowing that very church with which they now 
claimed affinity. 

In the beginning of the year 1654, the Princess of Orange 
came to Paris to visit her brother Charles ; but as France 
had, by this time, made an alliance with England, and as 
an English Ambassador had arrived at the French Court, 
it was hinted to the King, that it would be desirable if he 
would withdraw from his present residence ; which he was 
himself the more inclined to do, as it was not very agreeable 
for him to be continually encountering CromwelFs repre- 
sentative. Accordingly, he and his sister went, in the 
month of June that year, to Spa, where they spent the en- 
suing summer. 

After this, Charles went to Cologne, where he lived two 
years, and where a hospitable widow received him into her 
house, and lodged him gratuitously. While in that town, he 
sent Lord Rochester secretly into England, by the desire of 
the royalist party there, to aid them in exciting an insurrec- 
tion in his favour ; and in order to be at hand to second their 
efforts by his presence, if necessary, he himself took up his 
abode at Zealand ; but though Cromwell was at this time 
making himself odious to almost all parties except the mili- 
tarv, the threatened insurrection ended rather in injuring 
than in benefiting the cause of royalty.^ 

In April 1 65 7, the King removed with his little court to 
Bruges, in Spanish Flanders, in virtue of a treaty which he 
had recently made with Spain ; and here he was joined by 
his brothers the Dukes of York and Gloucester. Bruges 
being near the British coast, many of his subjects came 

1 From Cologne Charles wrote numerous letters to Sir Henry Bennet (after- 
wards Earl of Arlington), which are printed at the end of a small volume, en- 
titled, " An Account of the Preservation of Charles II. after the Battle of 
Worcester, drawn up by himself." The letters relate chiefly to matters of 
business, but interesting facts are occasionally alluded to. There is a letter 
to General Monk, which is curious, as connected with the part which that 
officer was soon to take in the Restoration. Monk was an able and successful 
soldier ; but he had no more truth, consistency, and humanity, than served 
his own ends ; so that, looking at the character of the restorer of the monarchy, 
and the character of the restored monareh, one might, even then, have augured, 
that what had begun ill, could scarcely be expected to end well. 



298 OUTLINE OF CHARLES H.'s LIFE, 

there to him. These he formed into four regiments, which 
he put under the commands, respectively, of the Marquis 
of Ormond, and the Lords Rochester, Wentworth, and 
Newburgh ; and placed them at the disposal of Spain, which 
was then at war with Cromwell. At the same time, he re- 
linquished the pension which he had hitherto drawn from 
France, and accepted one of the same amount from Spain. 
The Spaniards would not allow the King to hazard his per- 
son in their campaigns, which he had volunteered to do ; 
but they accepted the services of his two brothers, who 
both distinguished themselves in the battle which arose 
out of an attempt on their part, to raise the siege of Dun- 
kirk. 

While Charles was at Bruges, he received communica- 
tions from various bodies of the sectaries in England, ex- 
pressive of their desire for his return, on certain conditions ; 
and soliciting what aid he could give them against Crom- 
well, whom they now dreaded, or detested. But though, 
in his answers to them, he encouraged this feeling towards 
the usurper, he refused to commit himself by relying too 
implicitly on their professions ; and told them that, situated 
as all parties then were, they could do much more for him, 
than he could do for them. 

In the Spring of 1658, Charles removed with his house- 
hold to Brussels ; and, in the month of A ugust, to a vil- 
lage near Breda called Hockstraten ; but receiving intelli- 
gence of CromwelPs death in the following month, he im- 
mediately returned to Brussels. 

This important event roused the EngHsh royahsts to make 
another effort for the restoration of their King ; who, in 
in order to be as near them as possible, went to Calais in 
the beginning of 1 659 ; and afterwards to Brittany, opposite 
that part of England, where his supporters were most nu- 
merous. But finding that nothing could yet be attempted 
with any prospect of success, he resolved on taking a jour- 
ney, with some of his nobles, to St Jean de Luz, where a 
treaty of peace was then being organised between France 
and Spain, that he might try to obtain some assistance, or 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 299 

promise of support, from one or both of these nations. His 
journey was, however, to Httle purpose. He received strong 
professions of regard from both, but nothing that he could 
depend upon, except a present of 7000 gold pistoles. He 
returned therefore to Brussels in December. 

Meanwhile, important events were going forward in Great 
Britain. That country was so completely subject to a mili- 
tary despotism, that any party which could count on the 
support of the army, or rather of the strongest division of it, 
was sure of success. General Lambert, an Independent, 
who commanded the main body of the army in England, 
growing jealous of the " Eump'*'' Parliament, put it down 
by force, and established his own supremacy upon its ruins. 
Richard Cromwell, the son and successor of Oliver, vacil- 
lating between the army and the Parliament, fell, despised 
by both. The citizens of London took part with the Par- 
liament, as did General Monk, who commanded the army 
in Scotland. Monk was a quasi-Presbyterian, but " whose 
creed was of that description which easily adjusts itself to 
worldly circumstances." He immediately began his march 
for the south, and crossed the Tweed at Coldstream, on 
the 1st of January 1660; having previously proclaimed to 
the Scots, that " he had a call from God and his people" 
to go to England for a time ; that, in his absence, they were 
to " encourage the godly ministry ;" and " liold no inter- 
course with any of Charles Stewart's adherents.'" Monk's 
approach alarmed Lambert, who marched north to meet 
and confer with him ; but most of his men deserted to his 
opponent, and he himself was ultimately seized and com- 
mitted to the Tower, Monk now declared himself for the 
calling of a free and full parliament, to the great dismay 
of the members of the " Eump," who naturally desired to 
retain all the power they then possessed. Writs were ac- 
cordingly issued for the new Parhament to assemble in the 
month of April. But Monk, seeing in the meantime, that 
the members chosen by the electors were, for the most part, 
royalists, he began to think seriously of the restoration of 
the lawful King ; and sent Sir John Greenville (afterwards 



SOO OUTLINE OF CHARLES H.'s LIFE, 

Earl of Bath) secretly to Brussels, to ascertain on what 
terms he would consent to be replaced on the throne ? 
Charles, with the advice and assistance of his Chancellor, 
addressed very judicious letters to Monk himself, to the 
two Houses of Parliament (though the Lords had been long 
suppressed), and to the Lord Mayor and Council of Lon- 
don. In these, he cautiously avoided all details, but pro- 
mised to be guided, in his conduct, by the opinions and ad- 
vice of the new Parliament. These letters, when divulged 
in London, were most favourably received, and replies, full 
of loyalty, returned to them. The result was, that, with- 
out any conditions, Charles was proclaimed King on the 
8th of May, to the inexpressible joy of an overwhelming 
majority of the nation. Never was there a reaction so 
sudden, so unexpected, and so complete. Accompanied by 
his royal brothers, the King proceeded to the Hague, where 
he was received with the utmost enthusiasm by the Dutch. 
In a few days, the English fleet, consisting of twenty men- 
of-war, arrived at Scheveling, bringing deputations from the 
Houses of Lords and Commons, and from the citizens of 
London, who came to give him a formal invitation to his 
dominions ; and to make the very acceptable present of 
.£^50,000 to himself, JTl 0,000 to the Duke of York, and 
c£*5000 to the Duke of Gloucester. After a few days spent 
at the Hague amidst incessant festivities, the King and his 
suite embarked, on the 24th of May, on board the fleet, 
which was now commanded by the Duke of York, the legal 
Lord High Admiral of England. During the passage home, 
the names of the ships were converted from rebellious or 
republican, into royalist ones ; that in which the King 
sailed being changed from " the Naseby" into " the Royal 
Charles.'"* On Saturday the 26th, his Majesty landed at 
Dover, where he was welcomed, among others, by General 
Monk, whom he soon after created Duke of Albemarle, 
and Earl of Torrington, Knight of the Garter, Master of 
the Horse, and a Privy Counsellor, besides bestowing on 
him a large pension. He passed the Sunday at Canter- 
bury, in the cathedral of which, public thanks were offered 



AFTER HIS ESCAPE OUT OF ENGLAND. 



301 



up for his restoration. On Monday he proceeded to Ro- 
chester ; and on Wednesday, the 29th of May, being the 
thirtieth anniversary of his birth-day, he re-entered his 
Metropolis, amidst the roaring of a thousand cannons, the 
pealing of innumerable bells, and the deafening acclama- 
tions of the multitude. 




EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY MACPHERSON & SYME, 
12 S. ST DAVID STREET. 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Abernethie Andrew, Lieutenant, 162. 

AirUe, Earl of, 103, 104, 115. 

Anderson, Andrew, a schoolmaster, 42. 

Andrews, Thomas, 207. 

Angus, Lord, 148. 

Argyll, Marquis of, 14, 34, 37, 38, 40, 
43, 49, 67, ^7, 97, 98, 123, 149, 154, 
155, 157-159, 164-166, 170, 179, 183, 
189, 193, 203, 205. 

Ashenhurst, Colonel, 232. 

Athol, Earl of, 115, 116, 164, 187. 

Augustine, a Dutchman, 129. 

Baillie, Principal, 51, J 56, 183. 
Balcarras, Lord, 104, 123, 171, 187, 196, 

208, 210. 
Balfour, Sir James, Lord-Lyon, 49, 57, 

154, 155. 
Bate, Dr, 175, 192,285. 
Bennet, Henry, 44, 1 10, 115, 297. 
Rev. David, 137, 160, 161, 167, 

168. 
Bickerton, Adjutant-General, 83. 
Binning, Rev. Hugh, 7, 134. 
Blacket, Sir W., 209. 
Blague, Colonel, 225, 228. 
Blaii', Rev. Robert, 42, 43, 124, 125, 146, 

161, 171, 177, 197. 
Blount, Sir Walter, 219. 
Boyd, Rev. Zachary, 133-135. 
Bradshaw, President, 207, 217. 
Bramhall, Bishop, 23. 
Brechin, Lord, 149, 
Broadway, Captain, 238. 
Brodie, Alexander, of Brodie, 1, 26, 27, 

34. 
Brown, General Sir John, 99, 114, 115, 

188, 195. 
Buccleuch, Earl of, 43. 
Buchan, Earl of, 104, 115. 
BucMngham, Duke of, 18, 23, 34, 37, 57, 

103, 110, 111, 165, 189, 215, 221, 225, 

228, 241. 
Burleigh, Lord, 57^, 180, 181, 190. 
Burnet, Bishop, 37, 47. 
Byron, Lord, 44. 

Callender, Earl of, 16, 20, 44, 206. 

Canne, Mr John, 88, 93, 94. 

Cant, Rev. Andrew, 43, 117, 125, 134, 

196, 198. 
Capel, Lord, xiii. 

Carlis, Major, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241. 
Carnegie, Lord, ] 39, 149. 
Carnwath, Earl of, 20, 49, 50, 52, 224. 
Carstairs, Rev. John, 185. 
CassiUis, Earl of, 1, 25-27, 34, 49, 96. 



Charles I., King, xiii., xvi., x-\ii., 3, 13, 
31, 44, 52, 125, 127, 134, 144, J50, 153, 
217. 

Charles IT., King, passim. See Contents. 

Charteris, Captain, 36. 

Chiesley, Sir John, 43, 49, 67, 123, 137. 

Choisy, Madame de, xv. 

Christopher, Mr, 270. 

Gibber, Colonel, 223. 

Clare, Sir Ralf, 219. 

Cleveland, Earl of, 23, 99, 100, 224, 228, 
241. 

Cockburn, Sir W., 153. 
Colonel, 170. 



Cole, Mr Andrew, 104. 

Colepepper, Lord, xiii., xvii. 

Coningsby, Miss, 257, 260, 270. 

Cook, Mr John, 207. 

Coventry, Mr John, 268, 269, 

Cowley, Mr Abra.,44, 46, 110, 1 15, 116. 

Cranston, Lord, 184, 187, 224. 

Crawford- Lindsay, Earl of, 43, 104, 139, 
140, 141, 149, 154, 155, 164, 171, 187, 
206. 

Crofts, Mr, 210. 

Cromwell, Oliver, xvii., 8, 1 0, 44, 46, 50, 
54-56, 59-61, 63, 66, 67, 69, 72, 76, 
77, 80-83, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92, 96, 100, 
105, 110-112, 118, 119, 129, 134-137, 
142, 143, 147, 159, 160, 162, 163, 164, 
170, 175, 177, 180, 183, 185-187, 192- 
196, 199, 200, 202-204, 206, 207, 213, 
217, 219, 220, 222-224, 228, 229, 231, 
246, 297-299. 

Richard, 299. 

Crosby, Rev. xMr, 218. 

Culross, Lady, 69. 

Cunningham, Sir Charles, 224. 

Cuthie, George, 5. 

D'Aiguillon, Duchess, 293. 
Dalrymple, Mr James, 1, 22, 25, 32. 
Dalzell, Sir R., 23. 

General, 221. 



Darcey, Colonel, 99, 225. 
D'Epernon, Madame, 293, 295. 
Derby, Earl of, 51, 175, 184, 213, 216, 

225-228, 238. 
Dickson, Rev. David, 43, 68, 69. 
Digby, ]\Ir, 124. 
Don, John, 27. 
Douglas, Marquis & Marchioness of, 11. 

Earl of, 74. 

Sir Joseph, xvii. 

Sir John, 222. 

Sir WilUam, 83. 

Mr David, 42. 

20 



304 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Douglas, Rev. Robert, xxiv., 14, 31, 65, 
150, 157, 161, 185, 196, 197, 200. 

Drummond, Lord, 149, 187. 

Dudhope, Viscount, 41, 103, 115. 

Dundas, Walter, 162. 

Dunfermline, Earl of, 16, 20, 23, 38, 57, 
105, 114, 170, 187. 

Duppa, Bishop Brian, xiii. 

Durham, Rev. James, 43, 67, 105, 185, 
186, 190. 

Dury, James, 11. 

Dysart, Lady, 228. 

Earl, Dr, xiii., 288. 

Eglinton, Earl of, 39, 61, 67, 104, 134, 
"149, 170, 182-184. 

Lady, 59. 

Elizabeth, Princess, 88. 
Elsden, Mr, 260-262. 
Erapson, Lieutenant, 59. 
Errol, Earl of, 187. 
Erskine, Lord, 149, 187. 

Sir Charles, 105. 

Arthur, 32. 

Fairfax, General, xvi., 192. 
Fanshawe, Sir Richard, xiii., 166, 224, 
229, 230. 

Lady, 166, 229. 

Farquhar, Sir Robert, 35. 

Fenwick, Colonel, 53, 170. 

Ferguson, Rev. J., 169. 

Feversfield, Mr, 276, 282, 284, 286, 287. 

Feversham, Mr, 188. 

Fiesque, Countess of, 293. 

Fisher, Sir Clement, 251, 258. 

Fleetwood, General, 217, 219-221. 

Forbes, Lord, 187. 

Sir Alexander, 221, 222. 

Fortescue, Sir F., 99. 

Eraser, Dr, 23, 37, 116. 

Geddes, Janet, 37. 

Georges, Rev. Dr, 252-254. 

Gerard, Lord, 79, 288. 

Gifford, Mr, 217, 226, 227, 232, 234. 

Gillespie, Edward, 25, 27. 

Rev. P., 67, 68, 70, 117, 169, 

186, 197-199. 

Gives, a tailor, 220. 

Gloucester, Duke of, 258, 297, 300. 

Goff, Colonel, 80. 

Dr, 24. 

Gordon, Catharine, Mary and Jean, 11. 

Colonel, N., 42. 

Colonel, 83. 

Goulas, Mons., 294. 
Govan, WilUam, 162. 
Go wan, Rev. Mr, 89. 
Grandison, Lord, 221, 224. 
Greenville, Sir John, 102, 175, 299. 

Sir Richard, 102. 

Gunter, Captain, 272, 275. 

Colonel, 273-284, 287. 

Guthrie, Captain, 42. 

— Rev. James, 42, 43, 63, 65, 67, 



101,116-118,127, 137, 160-162, 167- 
169,186,197-199. 
Gyles, Colonel Strangways, 259. 

Haliburton, Rev. George, 57. 

Halket, Sir James, 84. 

Hamilton, Duke of, 16, 18,20,23,37, 

38, 43, 44, 50, 52, 58, 62, 68, 75, 76, 

101, 161, 164-166, 170, 179, 181, 183, 

187, 189, 191, 193, 205-207, 210, 214, 

221. 

'- Rev. Mr, 89. 

Hammond, Dr Henry, 219. 

Harden, Mr, 38. 

Harding, Mr, 24. 

Harrison, General, 206, 211-213, 217. 

Haselrigg, Sir Arthur, 52, 53, 84. 

Henchman, Dr Humphry, 269, 271, 278, 

Henderson, Sir John, 175. 

Henrietta Maria, Queen, xiii., xiv., xxiv., 

240, 289, 291, 292. 
Hertford, Marquis of, xiii., 79. 
Hinton, Mr, 102. 
Hobbes, Thomas, xiii. 
Hodgson, (/aptain, 77. 
Holborn, General, 195, 
Home, Lord, 187. 
Honeyman, Rev, Andrew, 42, 109. 
Hope, Sir John, 162. 
Hopton, Lord, xiii., xvii. 
Huddelston, Priest, 233, 236, 239, 240- 

249. 
Humbie, Laird of, 123. 
Huntly, Marquis of, 103, 105, 115, 116, 

163, 164, 187, 204, 206. 
Hutchinson, Mr, 1, 20, 26, 27, 32, 43, 67. 
Hyde, Sir Ed., Chancellor, xiii. xvii. 

296, 300. 

Mrs, 269, 270. 

Mr Lawrence, 272, 273, 275, 276, 

278. 

Inglis, Captain, 210. 
Ireton, Henry, 207. 

Jaffray, Alexander, 1, 13, 26, 27, 28, 30, 

34, 82. 
James, I., 74. 

II., 74. 

III., 74. 

IV., 74. 

v., 74. 

VI., 74, 144, 147, 150, 153, 157. 

VIL, 249. 

Jermyn, Lord, xviii.-xxi., 255, 292» 294. 
Johnstone, Sir A. of Warriston, 43, 49, 

65, 61, 123, 179. 

Lord, 149. 

Major, 162. 

Keith, Colonel George, 220, 221. 

Kelly, Earl of, 164, 187, 224. 

Kenmuir, Lord, 224. 

Ker, Colonel, 64, 86, 119, 132, 133, 135. 

King, Very Rev. John, 28. 

Knox, John, 75, 147,150. 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



805 



Lambert, General, 59, 77, 82, J 32, 186, 
' 194, 195, 206, 213, 214, 217, 299. 
Lane, Colonel, 236, 239, 243, 246, 247, 

249-252, 257, 258. 

Miss, 249, 253-258. 

Langdale, Sir M., 23. 

Lassels, Cornet, 249, 250, 252, 255, 258. 

Lauderdale, Earl of,xvii., 16, 20, 23, 38, 

43, 44, 104, 108, 139, 140. 170, 183, 

184,208-211,225,228. 
Legge, Colonel, 97, 224, 225. 
Leighton, Rev. Robert, 10. 
Lesley, General, 54, 57, 61, 67, 76-78, 

82, 89, 90, 112, 114, J 15, 117-119, 125, 

127, 132, 133, 135, 137, 183, 188, 193, 

207, 214, 215, 220-223, 225-229. 
Leven, Earl of, 54, 188, 206. 
Lilboume, Colonel, 216. 
LinUthgow, Earl of, 139, 187. 
Lisens, Mr Thomas, 218. 
Livingstone, Rev. John, 1, 16-20,22,23, 

25, 26, 29-32, 41, 43, 51, 117, 200. 
Liviston, Lord, 225, 228. 
Long, Mr Robert, 17, 18, 20, 28, 38, 99, 

102, 116. 
Lome, Lord, 39, 40, 67, 84. 
Lothian, Earl of, 1,14, 18, 25-28, 34, 

65, 67, 96, 105, 123, ]o9, 170, 18J. 
Loudon, Earl of. Chancellor, 14, 99, 105, 

107, 115, 125, 155, 157, 160, 167, 180- 

181. 
Louis XIV., King, xiv., xviii.-xx., 292. 
Low, Rev. Mr, 89. 
Lumsden, Colonel, 83. 

General Sir James, 83. 

Lundie, Sir James, 108. 

Macgill, Rev. James, 140. 
Mackline, Lord, 149. 
Mackworth, Colonel, 214. 
Macy, Captain, 262, 265, 267. 
Mansell, Mr, 276, 277, 281, 282. 
Marischall, Earl, 103, 116, 148, 149, 152, 

154, 155, 187. 
Mary, Queen of Scots, 42, 74. 
Massey, General, xvii., 164, 188, 213, 

219, 220, 224. 
Mein, Mr, 159. 
Melville, Andrew, 75. 
Menzies, Rev. Mr, 1 97. 
Middleton, General, 103, 109, 113, 115, 

116,162-164, 168,220,224. 

Sir Thomas, 215. 

Monk, General, 53, 158, 170, 191, 206, 

207, 297, 299, 300. 
Monmouth, Duke of, 35, 51. 
Monsieur, Duke of Orleans, xiv., xx., 

291,292,294. 
Montague, Lord, 293. 
Montgomery, Lord, 139, 149, 184. 
Colonel, afterwards. Ge- 
neral, 60, 104-106, 131, 132, 188, 220, 

221, 224. 
Montpensier, Mademoiselle de, xiv., xv., 

xnii. - xxiv., 289, 295. 



Montrose, Marquis of, xvii., xxiv., 3, 5, 
9, 11, 21, 25, 28, 35, 52, 54, 58, 62, 127, 
174, 179, 181, 182. 

Moss, Mr, 159. 

Mowat, Mr, 169. 

Murray, Miss Anne, 57, 84. 

Musgrave, Sir Philip, 99, 183. 

Nasmyth, Rev. James, 199. 
Newbottle, Lord, 149. 
Newburgh, Lord, 170, 298. 
Newcastle, Marquis of, xiii., 18. 
Nicholas, Sir Ed., xvii., 16, 71, 79, 162. 

164, 175, 296. 
Norton, Mrs, 249, 252-254, 256. 

Ogan, Colonel, 209. 
Ogilvie, Lord, 103, 104, 114, 115, 187. 
Sir David, 114. 



John, 11. 

O'Neil, Daniel, 109,211. 

Orange, Prince of, xvi., xx., xxiv., 16, 20, 

25, 79, 89, 110. 
Ormond, Marquis, of, xvii., 16, 17, 28, 

68, 71, 109, 124, 125, 162, 164, 166, 

175, 296, 298. 

Princess of, 297. 

Oudart, Mr, 79, 102. 
Overton, Colonel, 195. 
Owen, Rev. Dr, 7, 83, 90. 

Packington, Sir John, 219, 224. 

Paul, St. Lord, 99. 

Penderill, brothers, 217, 227,232-241, 

243, 246, 247. 
Perron, Lord, xviii. 
Peters, Henry, 257, 259, 261, 268-270. 
Petre, Mr and Mrs, 249, 251. 
Philips, Colonel, 269-271, 277, 278, 280. 
Pitscottie, Colonel, 221, 224. 
Poke, Mr John, 89. 
Pope, the, 20, 22. 
Pope, a butler, 253-267. 
Popham, Admiral, 26. 
Porterfield, Professor, and Mrs, 187. 
Progers, Mr, 99, 116. 
Purvis, Dr, 89. 

Ramsay, Lord, 149. 

Rev. Robert, 185. 



Rich, Colonel, 204, 206, 213. 
Richmond, Duke of, xiii. 
Rodes, Mr, 104. 
Rogers, Mr, 24, 37. 
Rollock, Rev. Mr, 162. 
Rothes, Earl of, 43, 187, 223, 224. 
Roxburgh, Earl of 78. 
Rupert, Prince, 19, 21. 
Rutherford, Rev. Samuel, 42, 64, 65, 86, 
119, 134, 161, 197, 198. 

Sandbum, Mr, 288. 
Sanders, Colonel, 204. 
Scone, Lord, 147. 
Scott, Sir J., 50. 



306 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Scott, Sir Walter, 51. 
Scougall, Mr, 109. 
Scrimgeour, Hugh, 42. 
Seaforth, Lord, 115, 139. 
Seaton, Sir James, 170. 
Seymour, Mr Henry, 24, 37, 72, 73. 
Sharp, Rev. James, 161. 
Simson, Rev. Mr, 199. 
Sinclair, Lord, 23, 115, 224. 
Smith, Sir John, 1, 26, 28, 34. 

Mr, 282, 283. 

Rev. Mr, 89. 

Southal, a " priest-catcher," 243. 
Southampton, Earl of, xiii. 272. 
Spotswood, Sir Robert, 42, 171. 
Spynie, Lord, 224. 

Stappleton, an English preacher, 96. 
Stevenson, Mr Andrew, 27. 
Strachan, Colonel, 54, 60, 119, 132, 162. 
Strickland, Sir W., 187. 
Sutherland, Earl of, 206. 
Swinton, Sir John, 67, 162. 
Sydenham, Major, 184. 
Symons, Mr and Mrs, 278-280. 

Talbot, Lord, 219, 225, 228. 

Throgmorton, Sir W., 187. 

Tildlesby, Sir Thomas, 216. 

Tillock, Rev. John, 269. 

Trail, Rev. Mr, 89. 

Tromp, Admiral Van, 25. 

Trotter, Mr Robert, 89. 

Turner, Sir Jas., 133, 139, 207,208, 224. 

Tweeddale, Earl of, 67, 129. 

Twisden, Mrs, 102. 

Vane, Sir Henry, 231. 
Villaneuffe, Marquis of, 99. 

Walker, Sir Edward, 23, 38, 99, 100, 
102, 109, 116. 



Wallace, Colonel, 39. 

Walters, Lucy, 35. 

Walton, Izaak, 228. 

Wandross, General, 188, 224. 

Warwick, Earl of, xvi. 

Watt, a tenant, 129. 

Webster, Mr, 26. 

Wemyss, Earl of, 43, 68, 206. 

Wentworth, Lord, xvii., 16, 23, 38, 99, 
100,210,298. 

Westley, a preacher, 264, 265. 

Whalley, Colonel, 59. 

White, Major, 80. 

Whitgrave, Mr, 233, 266, 269, 241-244, 
246. 

Widderington, Lord, 23, 99, 100, 216. 

Wigton, Lady, 69. 

Wilford, Captain, 61. 

Wilmot, Lord, (Earl of Rochester), xvii., 
23, 38, 99, 100, 103, 1 10, 1 1 1, 223, 225, 
227, 232, 236, 239, 240-244, 246, 249, 
250, 251, 255-257, 260, 261, 263, 264, 
267-269, 271-278, 281, 284, 286, 288, 
296-298. 

Windham, Colonel, 256, 257, 259-263, 
266, 268, 269. 

Sir Hugh, 265. 

Mr Thomas, 104. 



Winram, George, of Libberton, 1, 18, 

19,26-28,34,68,82. 
Wolf, Mr, 234, 235, 242. 
Wood, Rev. James, 1, 26, 49, 96, 109, 

160,161. 
Wright, Dr, 192. 

Yester, Lord, 149. 

York, Duke of, xiii., xvi., xxiii.,57, 79, 
125, 248, 258, 282, 289, 291, 297, 300. 
Young, Rev. Robert, 180. 



CORRIGENDA. 
These are more than the author could have wished, owing chiefly to his distance from 
Edinburgh. 

Page 7j line 32, transpose for to the end of sentence. 
18, . . 3, dele from One to end of the paragraph. 
40, . . 8, dele of 

67, . . 3, dele last sentence of paragraph. 

68, hot. line, for him read Charles 
. 162, . . 22, for Alexander Hope read Sir Alexander Hope 

36, .. 29, /or have reci^ hear 
. 274, , . 28, for Mr Gunter read Colonel Gunter 



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